Upstairs, in the warm part of the mansion, Darius threw himself into a chair and groaned.
"When are we going to get that countess bitch? I'm sick of these cheap little noble girls. They don't even feel special anymore. You just push them a little too hard, and they break."
Alaric didn't look up from the papers on his desk. "Be patient."
"Patient?" Darius laughed, short and bitter. "If it were up to me, I'd storm over there right now and drag her out by her hair. She still thinks her useless husband is going to pay that loan one day. That's the only reason she hasn't given in."
Alaric turned a page, calm as always. "Exactly. So we help the husband fail. A few fake bills, a couple of 'bad harvests,' one missed interest payment… and contract law does the rest. Sixty percent interest, remember? The moment they're late, everything falls into place."
Darius kicked the leg of the table. "I still don't get why we have to play these stupid games every single time. We're marquesses. They're only counts. We have far bigger armies, much more money to keep everyone's mouth shut and everything. Why not just march in and take her?"
Alaric finally looked up at his younger brother, his eyes cold. "And how exactly would we do that? Because the last time you decided to 'just take' a noble lady, you did it in the middle of the capital market in broad daylight. Count Armond's daughter, remember? We were lucky the royal family was busy with the border war, or the knights would have hanged us both. I'm not cleaning up another one of your messes."
Darius rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I get it. Just make it happen this year, alright? If I have to wait any longer, I'm not sure I'll be able to control myself from dragging her out of that house."
With that, he stormed out, slamming the door behind him.
Alaric sighed, rubbed his temples, and returned to his forged invoices.
A few miles away, in the basement of another grand mansion, Eon was practicing with an air ball.
A soft blue light floated in front of him—his Status screen. It looked almost the same as always, but some numbers had jumped.
–STATUS–
Race: High Elf
Age: 96 years
Strength: 11
Stamina: 32
Agility: 13
Mana: 1100/7000
Insight: 20000
SP: 5 → 10 → 20 → 20 → 30 → 40
–SKILLS–
Unlocked Skill: Matter Manipulation (Lv 5: 9/600)
Locked Skill: Heat Manipulation
(Condition: Master Matter Manipulation to Lv 10)
Locked Skill: Spell Management
(Condition: Create a new spell)
Unlocked Skill: Alchemy (Lv 3: 30/50)
Locked Skill: Inventory
(Condition: Possess an object too heavy to carry)
Locked Skill: Smithing
(Condition: Melt raw ore of any metal)
Locked Skill: Crafting
(Condition: Invent an item unknown to this world)
Locked Skill: Skill Shop
(Condition: Master all unlocked skills)
…A long row of locked skills with conditions.
Eon grinned in the dark. Level 5. Finally.
He focused on the Matter Manipulation skill, and a new window appeared:
-Skill-
Matter Manipulation
Lv 5: 9/600
Elements gained: Water, Earth, Air
Description: The host can manipulate any type of matter within range using mana. This allows shaping, movement, and restructuring of matter from its original state. Mastery unlocks advanced elemental applications.
He whispered to himself, "When it first unlocked, it said I had 1000 uses left before Level 2. Then 900 for Level 3… now only 600 for Level 6. The number keeps shrinking. Will it eventually drop to just one use per level?"
Even if it did, he figured reaching that final use would require insane magic. After all, every level-up demanded something new, either an entirely new type of magic or a superior version of a previous one. So despite the decreasing count, leveling was actually getting harder each time.
Everything had to be fresh now. The same old water ball wouldn't cut it anymore. He needed new ideas.
"Maybe I should consult Elsa about this," he murmured. "She used to be a mage, after all."
Turning, he saw the other elves handing out their meager dinner portions. He'd noticed yesterday how little they received each day, yet it remained a mystery how they'd survived on so little for ten whole years.
'Carla mentioned Teressa was kind to slaves—protesting their mistreatment was why she'd been exiled for years. So why are these people still suffering even after she regained authority? Is there something I'm missing?'
Putting the thought aside for now, another realization struck him: 'How can I see so clearly in this pitch-black room? There's not even a torch or any light source, yet I can make out every detail as if it were daylight. Another high-elf trait? Not bad.'
Delighted with the discovery, he stood and lightly touched Elsa's back to signal he was done.
After their so-called dinner, everyone returned to their corners. Elsa, Verra, her daughter Loreth, and Eon settled in theirs.
Elsa moved to resume shielding him from view as usual, but Eon stopped her.
"I need to know how you used magic back when you were a mage," he said. "I've run out of ideas."
Settling down, Elsa began explaining at her own pace.
"It might be hard to describe. We used chants—each spell had its own incantation tied to a specific effect. But you… you don't chant at all. Your magic doesn't seem bound to any fixed form. I've seen you shape clay into detailed dolls and do all sorts of unique things. That kind of freedom only comes because you manipulate matter directly. We were limited to basic spells: water ball, earth bullet, wind shield, fire storm… If we wanted a specific effect, we had to memorize its chant first."
Eon closed his eyes, reached into the damp air, and without a word formed a perfect apple-sized sphere of water above his palm. It spun slowly around him.
"No matter how many times I see it, it never gets old," Verra whispered in awe. "Magic without chanting… incredible."
Seeing Verra and Loreth draw closer, Elsa and Eon stepped back slightly, letting them join the conversation.
"If you're looking for new ideas, why not learn how we did it first?" Verra suggested. "Maybe understanding our way will spark something."
"Not a bad idea," Eon said eagerly, scooting closer. "Tell me everything."
Both women smiled at his enthusiasm.
"In every village we had a crystal orb that displayed our mana pool," Verra began, clearly speaking from experience. "If someone had little mana, they were better off pursuing other paths—magic was purely mana-based. The more mana you had, the greater your potential. Promising children started with theory: mana fundamentals, matter and its subatomic structure, how heat resides within particles…
Once the basics were mastered, we learned the chants. We practiced them endlessly until the spells became second nature."
Eon nodded silently. So she was a mage too. Best not bring it up—she might get upset like Elsa.
"Can you recite a spell for me?"
Verra spoke softly: "Hakimaterao Dibiablo Ladisiac no Daye—Water Ball."
The ancient elven words sounded like gibberish to him, but the final "Water Ball" was clear.
'So they speak a phrase, and the magic just happens? That's a fantasy world for you. Well, Not that I can judge, I also have my own floating blue screen that only I can see, which is also pretty absurd from my standard of realism.'
"Do you know who created those spells in the first place?" he asked.
"Most were gifted to our priests by the Goddess herself," Verra answered. "Some were later refined by grand mages or wizards, though they only ever produced legendary-grade spells, far beyond what ordinary mages could cast."
'So chants channel their mana, while my system handles it for me. But I can also create spells once I unlock Spell Management… except the condition is to invent a new spell myself. If only grand mages and wizards can do that, then how am I supposed to unlock it? Or is there supposed to be a trick for this?
After a moment's thought, he asked, "If your spells come from your goddess, do humans and dwarves also have their own gods granting them magic?"
"Not quite. I don't know how they obtained their first spells thousands of years ago, but since then, they've refined ancient magic on their own. They've developed many rare-grade spells, but for centuries, no new epic or legendary ones. Occasionally, a Mage Emperor or Mage God creates a new legendary spell, yet most of their strongest magic remains the same ancient ones."
"If their most powerful spells haven't evolved, how did they defeat you? Shouldn't your newer spells have been more advanced?"Eon was confused at this.
"Having complex spells doesn't automatically make a race stronger. Even with a powerful spell, you still need decades, sometimes centuries, to master it. We might live longer and can perfect more spells than humans, but we're vastly outnumbered. Our birth rate is as slow as our aging. Very few elves are born with high mana potential, and even fewer reach white mage rank, let alone the tiers above. Only a handful ever become grand mages or wizards. Humans never defeated us using just magic, as we were the superior ones in that, compared to them. They defeated us with numbers and the dwarven technology. No matter how superior our individual mages were, they couldn't fight back once they had a collar around their neck."
Verra's face fell into a defeated expression. Sensing the conversation turning heavy, Eon changed direction.
"Okay, different topic. I might need to hear and recite a spell myself to unlock my Spell management skill. Can you say it again?"
"Spell Management skill?!" Elsa and Verra exclaimed in unison.
"Ah, it's part of the power the Goddess gave me. It works differently. I have to create an original spell to unlock it."
"Create a new spell just to unlock the ability to use spells? That's… bizarre," Elsa said, frowning in confusion.
Eon laughed. "Tell me about it."
"Recite with me," Elsa said. "Hakimaterao Dibiablo Ladisiac no Daye, Water Ball."
Eon repeated carefully: "Hakimaterao Dibiablo Ladisiac no Daye, Water Ball."
Nothing happened.
'Of course. It has to be an original spell. Maybe I have figured it out.'
He raised his hand and declared confidently, "WATER BALL!" while willing the same water sphere he'd created earlier to appear.
A massive water orb, large enough to swallow a grown man, formed instantly in front of him.
A new blue window popped up:
–SKILL UNLOCKED–
Spell Management
Lv 1: 0/10
Spells registered: WATER BALL
Description: The host can create new spells by naming any magical technique they are capable of performing. Chanting a registered spell's name reduces its mana cost by 50%.
Eon read it and nodded. 'So that's why the old chant didn't work, I had to name it myself. But other than the mana discount, why bother with chants, exactly? I can already use magic silently whenever I want. Chanting seems less efficient.'
Then it clicked.
'Silent casting is better for stealth or when I'm calm and creative. But in battle, under stress, imagination can falter, my focus might waver, any simple magic could become unstable, and the higher mana cost would drain me faster. A chant is automatic: say the name, boom, perfect spell every time, no need to visualize under pressure. It frees my mind for tactics.'
Understanding the advantage, he immediately asked Elsa to shield him again while he practiced.
A short while later:
Spell Management
Lv 2: 3/20
Spells registered: WATER BALL, WATER BULLET, WATER WALL, AIR BALL, VACUUM, EARTH BULLET, CLAY VIAL, SWAMP, BEND, AIR GUSH
Description:The host can create new spells by naming any magical technique they are capable of performing. Chanting a registered spell's name reduces its mana cost by 50%.
He noticed the difference this time. Matter Manipulation's required uses decreased with each level, while Spell Management's and other skill's increased with each level up. The actual difficulty for all skills kept rising with both cases.
Suddenly, Elsa placed a hand on his shoulder, startling him.
"Someone came down and left this bag," she whispered, handing him a heavy black sack. "They said it was from the countess herself."
Taking the bag from her hand, he thought in his mind, 'Carla probably used Teressa's name so the guards wouldn't suspect anything, Smart .'
"What's inside, Eon?" Elsa asked, eyes wide with curiosity. "And how did you manage to get something smuggled into the basement? I'm certain the count forbade it."
"That's a story for another time," he grinned. "Now let's see what she managed to send."
With an excited expression, Eon eagerly opened the bag…
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