The children of nobles are terrifying. Aaron, Cyrus, and Nicholas were all amazed by the spell rather than terrified or intimidated, and they started peppering me with questions. All three of them, not just Aaron. I was starting to think Cyrus and Nicholas were mute.

That's not the scary part.

Apparently, I didn't reduce the potency of the spell enough. It was still heard from the city, though mostly just from the walls because of the festivities. Some guards rushed out thinking something happened. When they found out I was just showing off a spell to the nobles' kids, they were going to fine me for causing a panic.

Aaron introduced himself as Aaron, son of Lord Gavin Moldelzic. Then he told them that it was his fault, that he had heard that I could use a spell version of the emergency spell and asked if I could use it. He said that we thought we were far enough away from the city it wouldn't be heard and that I'd even reduced the power (I'd already mentioned to them that I had so that I wouldn't disturb the city) just to be safe.

The guards accepted that, telling me that in a clear space like this, a boom like that can be heard from much further than in a place like the forest. They were also somewhat impressed to learn I could already cast a high-level spell like that.

Rather than receiving the fine they were going to give me, I got complimented. That was all because Aaron was a noble who explained it was unintentional and believed to be weaker than that. The guards even asked me how I cast the spell.

One of them is a two-affinity with light and air, and while he knew about the spell, he'd never learned it because buying the flashbang grenades were easy enough for him. He seemed genuinely interested in the spell, saying it would be good to be able to control the strength of it in case he's further away from potential rescue than a normal flashbang grenade would reach.

The guards would never have been like that with me if it wasn't for the nobles' kids with me. They might have even arrested me for the accidental commotion. Just having them with me changed it to a fine, and having Aaron "explain" things turned it into a discussion.

For the next hour after the guards left, I showed off spells to Aaron, Cyrus, and Nicholas, and they've been doing their own spells and hunting slimes.

Nicholas showed me what [Wall of the Blazing Abyss] was, too. It's a wall of fire and shadows mixed together, protecting both against water and ice magics and against light magics. His family consists of fire and shadow mages primarily, with them preferring to marry others who have at least one of those (since single-affinities are most people). Nicholas has fire, earth, and shadow affinities.

Right now, Colt's friends are doing their own thing while I relax on the boulder. I want to take my tunic off because I'm so hot, but what if they start showing their disgust for me once they see my scars? Colt must be using a lot of his own willpower not to, seeing as he saw them the first day we met.

"Aaron!" I hear Colt exclaim. "Cyrus! Nicholas! What are you doing out here?"

"Our fathers finally agreed to let us hunt monsters," Aaron says as I sit up to find Colt and Thomas rather close. "And we came to look for you, but Max said you were in the forest. Since that's too strong for us, we were hanging out here, since we assumed you would pass this way on your way back."

"You should have told me you wanted to hang out," Colt says. "I could have stayed. What happened there?"

Colt indicates the crater.

"We asked Max to show off some spells," Aaron says. "He used the [Flashbang Bomb] you told us about. Have you seen it? That spell is really quite awesome. Nicholas and I don't have the right affinities for it, but Cyrus said he's going to try to learn it once he's stronger and can do so further from the city. Max reduced the power of the spell, but it was still heard there and drew guards. We thought you were exaggerating about his power, Colton! He had barriers up as well, so he's really talented! Did you know that he can cast several spear spells?"

"Yes," Colt answers, and he looks kind of amused. "I've seen him practicing them. He's also getting quite skilled at rapid-casting. If you want to be really impressed, watch him take on a group of monsters without using area spells. I'm fairly certain he's begun multicasting, rather than simply casting one spell after another, too."

Colt noticed that? I can cast two spells simultaneously at once, even if I can sustain several more than that at the same time. I'm also close to being able to cast three spells simultaneously. Rapid-casting and multicasting is a struggle right now, though, but I'm sure I'll get better at that with more practice.

As Colt talks with his friends, I look at Thomas, who is carrying a large boar slung over a shoulder. He approaches me and sets the boar down beside the boulder. I examine the boar, finding that it has only a single point of damage – a wound to the head that looks similar to when I spear a boar through the head.

"Colton was planning on selling this in town," Thomas tells me. "Though since you're still out here, he may ask about cooking it to do a birthday dinner for you, since it's getting to be around that time. It's the first he was able to take down in a single hit, his skill with using spell-made spears is… lacking. He keeps trying to use bolts against them, and when he does use a spear, he tries to use it like a normal spear instead of a spell."

"As his mentor, shouldn'tya be correcting that?" I ask. "Since he's a prince and all? Ain't that, like, one of the first things he should learn?"

Whoops, that was bad. I just criticized a royal bodyguard.

"Everyone has their flaws," Thomas shrugs. "Colton's tendency to use spell-made spears incorrectly is one of them. I've attempted to correct this several times, but he's hung up on trying to use the spears like a normal weapon. I actually wanted to talk with you about that."

"Me?" I ask. "How could I help with that?"

"During the camping trip this weekend," Thomas says. "Would you be willing to use your spears spells against a group of enemies? Seeing you doing it would probably be more effective than showing him it myself yet again."

"Okay," I nod. "I can give that a try."

Looking over at Colt, I see him goofing around with his friends, the four of them using their spells more playfully as they chase around slimes. So even noble children can act like that? Hailey and her crew are more serious in their hunting just like I have been, but I've seen some of the commoners goofing off. Perhaps they want a break from the seriousness, and out here, they're able to without too much judgment?

Maybe… I should try to set aside my worries for a few moments. If it weren't for how Colt has treated me these last few weeks, what he's doing with his friends and how his friends were treating me earlier, and what Thomas just told me, I don't think I'd have ever done this.

No, this is definitely because of those four things combined.

I summon a storm of [Ice Spear]s and launch them into the air. It's not an instant summon for all of them, just me summoning one after another and launching it. My speed with casting spells like this is sufficient enough that it seems almost instantaneous, too. I do have to take a few seconds to collect myself every seven or eight casts, though, or I start to fumble.

By the third break, Colt and his friends are all looking at me. I keep my expression neutral as I send out my fourth volley of spears. These are perfectly striking through the cores of slimes. Specifically, the slimes all around the four of them. It doesn't matter how the slime is moving or where it's located, I don't miss a single shot.

"Seriously, Max?" Colt asks.

"Thomas asked me to show you how to properly use spear spells," I tell him. "That is how ya do it, Colt. If ya want to go a little further, ya can do it like this."

I summon another [Ice Spear] and manipulate it so that it spins around, zipping across the fields and skewering bouncing slime after bouncing slime as they reach their peak before finally ending in the core of a mega flame slime.

"They're versatile spells," I say. "With more piercing power than a normal bolt spell, which is mainly impact-based, just with enough force to cut. Spears also have the full weight of the spear behind it for ones like this, which give it added force upon penetration on top of the force from its speed. That's why they're good for taking down tough, charging beasts like boars. Not only does it have all of those benefits, but the boar's own speed drives it down the shaft, and the spell lasts longer before breaking than a bolt."

I'm extremely nervous right now. That was way too bold of me and Colt and his friends may not be happy with me for doing that. Even if Thomas asked me to do this during our camping trip, it's still above my station. Way, way, way above my station.

Being a prince of Zanroval means nothing. I have never been there, and my kingdom is too far away for me to reach. I am still just a boy from the slums, even if one with a lot of personal power. Colt is a prince of the kingdom we're in.

We really are in two different classes, and now he's going to punish me for-

"That was amazing!" Colt exclaims, running over. "How did you do that? I can barely shoot the spears at where I'm aiming, and you're able to shoot them up into the air and have them arc back down! And that trick you did with the last spear? Where did you learn that?"

"Uh… here?" I answer. This isn't the response I expected at all. "I noticed that my bolt spells were just shooting through several slimes, and so I tried shooting several bouncing slimes in a row with the right timing and angle. Then I thought, I could probably do that with a spear spell and gave it a try on some of them. But the spears last longer, so I figured, what if I kept control of the spear through the fight? It's not that hard, and it takes less than a tenth of the casting Mana per second of retaining control while doing that. There's a bit of a range limitation, though, but I noticed that it goes up as my Magic increases, so I think there's a core relation between the two. And with the spell's Level, too."

"Correlation, not core relation," Thomas says. "And yes, there is, and it varies based on the spell's Tier as well and what type of spell it is. An area spell, such as a bomb spell, has a shorter range for you to do that in."

I can manipulate a bomb spell like that? That wasn't something I thought I could do. As far as I knew, I could just keep them floating around me or launch them. Being able to retain control while I move them further away from me, however, means that I could possibly manually detonate it, too. Something to test another time. I'll also test if I can get the bombs to go behind someone, then come back forward. Maybe try that with other spells, too.

"Oh," I say. "Thanks, Thomas."

"You're welcome," he says. "Would you mind reducing the number of [Flashbang Bomb]s you have at the ready, Max? While I know I can handle them, it's a little unsettling to see someone your age so on-edge."

"I don't see any [Flashbang Bomb]s," Colt looks around. "Are you doing invisible ones again, like when you were in that meeting with my sister and her guards?"

"He is," Thomas says. "He had one of them active when we arrived, and he conjured up a second when you rushed over to him."

I really need to figure out how to make these undetectable, but that would require figuring out how they're detecting them. That's not even something I can just ask, since they'd probably lie to me so that they can keep detecting them.

Wait, I conjured a second one? Oh, it looks like I did. That explains why my Mana Regen was much lower than it should have been for the last minute or so.

"Oh," Colt says. "Well, if it makes him feel more comfortable, that's fine by me. Hey! If Max wants to, can we do a feast with the boar? I bet it'd be the best dinner he's ever had, even with what we can find out here! It can be another birthday gift to him!"

Thomas gives me a look that says he told me so.