Edited by: Black Jesus
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It was not until the sunset when Delilah got up from her bed. When passing by her vanity, she checked if there was anything wrong with her appearance. She habitually rubbed her necklace, and after fixing the wrinkles in her gown, she headed out. Delilah's lesson was to take place at the Royal Training Field. Delilah walked straight towards where it was located. Although it was nighttime, the palace grounds were still brightly lit by the crystal lampposts.
Delilah was soon within range of the training field. As she came closer to the training field, she could feel an increasingly weird feeling. Delilah felt that this area had a magical aura that she had never felt before. She put the thought to the back of her mind and continued. Soon, Delilah could make out the young Marvin's figure in the distance waiting. He had regular dark features and wore a purple Sorcerer's Robe. After noticing him, she focused her consciousness on to the protection talisman that she had stored within her necklace. She did, however, feel more reassured remembering that there were surrounded by palace guards nearby. Delilah stopped walking when she was around 4 meters away from him. It was completely obvious that she was keeping a distance between the two.
What followed was a moment of awkward silence as Delilah just stared at him expressionlessly. Marvin did not know what kind of face to make as his countenance lost all color. He wondered what he had done to offend this little princess. After thinking on it for a while which resulted in no results, he made up his mind to clear the air between the two. Marvin wanted to get to the bottom of the situation. He then took a step forward, bowed, then started to greet her.
"Marvin greets Princess Delilah. I would like to…" before Marvin could finish speaking, he noticed an object flying through the air. When he saw that it was headed towards Delilah, he immediately rushed towards her to try and push her out of the way. However, Marvin had awful luck as when he was within a few feet of her, he tripped.
When Delilah saw Marvin running towards her, she instantly panicked. He was too fast though as before she knew it he was already laying on top of her.
"Ahhhhh! Predator! Predator!" Delilah screamed. Her eyes started to water as she was wriggling out from underneath Marvin. Marvin forgot to move as when he heard Delilah call him a predator he became dazed. Delilah managed to slip away. She ran a short distance before pulling out the protective talisman.
Marvin had no time to respond to react as before he knew that his clothes were in tatters and his skin was covered in black ash. He lay on the floor twitching like a fish out of water. He just laid there on the floor thinking of what just happened. When did he become a rapist? Although he tripped and fell on her, did not he save her? There was no need to attack him right? Also, he was not a predator!
Marvin was soon surrounded by the nearby guards. They had not seen the flying object, only seeing Marvin pounce on Delilah followed by hearing her screams. Marvin started to weep as he thought about how unfair his situation was.
"Seize the predator!" one of the guards shouted. But before they could apprehend him, they were stopped.
"Stop!" called out a young female voice. The guards had no choice to stop as they felt as if they were about to be smashed to pieces from a magical force. They wondered who would be so presumptuous as to act this way within the Palace Grounds. Though those thoughts vanished without a trace when they noticed who it was.
"Lady Rayna," said the guards in unison while barely being able to salute her.
"This is just a misunderstanding. Don't worry. I'll handle this situation." Rayna then turned towards Delilah and started shaking her head.
Rayna had just learned from Roy the misunderstanding between Delilah and Marvin and rushed to the field. Knowing Delilah, nothing good could come from this. But she was too late as she feared, and more had happened just when she got there. She saw the scene of Marvin saving Delilah, although tripping, then becoming a roasted piece of meat after being called a predator.
Rayna then told Delilah about the situation hurriedly before rushing off to help him. Delilah was instantly stunned. Consequentially the group of soldiers also heard what Rayna said.
Everyone then glanced at the young man on the ground. A similar thought then rang out within Delilah and the surrounding soldier's minds, "Poor Marvin."
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After the arrangements were made by Rayna, within an hour, Marvin had already been healed due to being treated by both the Royal Physician and Royal Archpriest. He learned from Rayna about the situation. After learning what Roy did, Marvin cursed him and swore he would get revenge. He and Delilah then had a conversation while heading out back to the training field. Also, it turned out that the flying object had been an injured bird falling from the sky. However, the poor bird ended up dying from the talisman.
Now stood a redressed Marvin and Delilah in the middle of the training ground. Unlike before, there was no awkward atmosphere between the two. The young Marvin now had a serious expression along with a scholarly aura.
"Okay, let's get started. I already learned what that bast-... I mean Roy, told you. As you already know, Sorcerers are divided into classes that are determined by a person's magical affinity. Regarding this, it's better for you to learn it later as everything will fit better and there will be less confusion.
"We won't be training today as it is your first day. But I did, however, assign you homework. One thing I want to state first is that the number one thing when advancing your strength is your foundation. This pertains to both the foundation of your Sorcerer or Combatant level and your knowledge. Knowledge is especially important for Sorcerers.
"I've assigned you two books. Both of them have the newest edition in the Royal Library. I'll brief over them for today and you can meet me back here tomorrow for the actual training to begin. Now, the first book is probably the most widespread book for Sorcerers, that is the [Merlin Classic, 8th Edition]. The book was written by the first Sage Sorcerer in history, Sage Merlin, who was a genius Mage. It goes over the three foundational levels for potential Sorcerers. Throughout time the Magical Institute has revised it numerous times and has split it into a simplified version and the full version. The Royal Library has multiple versions of it as well, make sure to get the most recent edition of the full version.
"The second book I want you to look over is the [Flower Compendium: Volume 1]. You should already know the history of the said book. Although there are many more people who are more qualified to teach you regarding the spells in this book in the Kingdom, I will be teaching you how to incorporate it with Summoning Magic. You're dismissed for now. Also if you're wondering why we came back to the training field merely to have this conversation, it is because of the natural mana vein here. The longer that you're exposed to it, the better." finished Marvin. Delilah now understood what the strange feeling she had was! She then bade him farewell.
Watching Delilah leave, Marvin let out a deep breath. The pressure of teaching a princess was not small!
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Delilah headed straight towards the Royal Library. She was excited because although she had spent a lot of time in the Royal Library, that was just to learn the most basic spirit formations that were placed within the first floor which had just common books. She was never allowed to enter the second floor which was filled with combat skills, spells, and subjects on spirit power such as alchemy, blacksmithing, and so on.
After entering the library, Delilah immediately rushed towards the staircase that led to the upper half. But she stopped right in front of it. She had learned from her grandmother earlier that the restriction towards her had been lifted. Delilah never got a chance to try it out though as her training immediately started today. She stretched out her tiny foot, and when she noticed that she was met with no resistance from the barrier, she speedily climbed up the stairs. After reaching the top, she scanned the bookshelves. After finding the books that Marvin had assigned to her, Delilah placed them down on the nearest table and proceeded to sit down and read.
[Merlin Classic, 8th Edition]
The first page had a simple phrase:
'Truth in knowledge.'
The book then had a simple introduction and was split into three chapters, each concerning one of the foundational levels of a potential Sorcerer.
Like Combatants, there were three foundational levels that one had to go through before becoming a Sorcerer. The three levels were respectively Mana Sensing, Mana Sea, and Star Forming.
Delilah skimmed through the book briefly before focusing on the chapter about the Mana Sensing level.
The Mana Sensing realm included two steps. The first was to sense the mana in the environment. The next step was to manipulate the mana towards the heart which was also the center of a human's magic streams. It was safe as the heart had a natural affinity for mana. A person would then continuously send mana to their heart. This would then temper their heart and mana streams increasing the amount of mana they can sense while eventually allowing them to hold and process mana.
Once a person was able to hold mana in their heart and use it for spells, they could be said to have completed the Mana Sensing level.
Delilah read over the section multiple times while occasionally pausing to ponder over it. After she felt that her comprehension had reached the limit, she then focused her attention towards the other book, the [Flower Compendium: Volume 1].
As the Crown Princess, she naturally knew what the Flower Compendium was. It was a set of 3 volumes of attributeless spells. The compendium was the reason that allowed the founding ruler to establish his kingdom. This is why the name of the nation is the Ancient Flower kingdom.
The Flower Compendium was the source of the power of the kingdom. The first and second half of the first volume was used for soldiers of the army while the second volume was taught to military leaders. As for the 3rd volume, that could only be learned by the current monarch. This was also the reason why the majority of the flower kingdom's higher echelons consisted of sorcerers as it was a spell.
After reading the first half of the book, Delilah felt her brain hurt. This was because she did not temper her heart and magical system yet. After completing the mana sensing stage, a person would inherit the natural laws of magic and gain something called Spell Comprehension. A person's Spell Comprehension was determined by the number of magical laws they inherited.
Although Delilah's head hurt, she pushed through it. She knew the reason that Marvin had told her to look through the book was that a person could train themselves while in the Mana Sensing realm to better the quality of their Spell Comprehension. However, Marvin did not know that Delilah would come up with a crazy idea. She set her goal as to train herself to the point of where she was at the level of Spell Comprehension before actually having it. This was something unheard of but if she could pull it off the benefits would be limitless. Delilah then continued to read.
The [Flower Compendium] was a book that included 4 attributeless spells that manipulated mana into the form of 4 different flowers each of which produced different effects. The first volume went over the most basic flower which was the rose. There were two spells pertaining to the rose which were rose petal blades and thorns. The first conjured rose petals that would be able to act like thousands of tiny blades to cut down your enemy. The second spell was a defensive spell which reflected damage to the opposing caster.
Delilah became lost within training her comprehension and entered a unique state. If anyone saw the state she was in, he or she would be stupefied. Delilah would soon learn about this unique state that would help her on her road to power. Time passed and she eventually left the unique state due to blinding rays of the morning sunlight shining through the ceiling glass. She immediately panicked and looked over to the grand clock in the library. It was almost a quarter past 6. Delilah was supposed to leave for her lessons with Roy at 5 as that was when he would start timing her. She was startled.
Delilah rushed to the corner of the library where the entrance to the tunnel was and used the key to open it. Her eyes were bloodshot and her hair was a mess. By the time she got to the end of the tunnel, she had an even more haggard appearance. Delilah was panting and her clothes were soaked with sweat. She immediately regretted losing herself her magic studies.
When Roy saw her appearance he gave up all intentions of scolding her for being late. He knew something must have gone wrong for her to look this way and for the prompt girl from yesterday to be late on the first day.
"Since today is your first day of actual training, I'll let you off. Also, to maximize the results of your training, it would be better if you started every day in peak condition. I'll change things up just for today. Rest for an hour then we're immediately heading back to the royal palace."
Delilah collapsed after she heard she could rest and immediately fell asleep.
Roy sighed then picked her up and proceeded to the Royal Palace via the tunnel. After arriving, he arranged for a slow healing treatment from one of the royal clerics and ordered a specific medical bath to be prepared.
It was not until a couple of hours later that Delilah woke up. When she opened her eyes, she saw a white spell membrane surrounding her. There was warm energy continually flowing through her and healing her. This was a result of a slow healing spell by the female cleric. Allowing the body to heal more slowly would be better than a faster method. Although it a slow healing spell, it was still at least 10x faster than if your body were to heal on its own.
When Delilah finished the healing session she then went to bathe in the medicinal bath prepared for her. When she entered the bath, she immediately felt a stinging pain. The bath had the effects of tempering her body with the only side effect being a pain. After an hour, the pain had already dwindled to nothingness as all the body refining properties were used. The tub was now a dark murky color and stank. Delilah then showered and got dressed. It was almost the time when the sun would set. She, however, felt rejuvenated as if she had just woken up from a nice sleep.
When she learned that Roy was at the Palace Training Field waiting for her, she immediately rushed over. When she arrived, she could not help but look around nearly 3 times before spotting Roy. As usual, the man had no presence!
"I am so sorry Mr. Roy!" she said while running towards him. She then bowed as a form of an apology.
"It's okay. Things happen. We'll be starting now since we don't have much time. You already know that there are three foundational realms for potential Combatants. The first level is the Body Refining realm. This level is pretty straightforward as it means to refine and strengthen the body. A weak body cannot withstand the physical empowerment of Qi."
Roy waved his hands, and a petite chainmail set of armor appeared. It fit perfectly with Delilah's current measurements.
"This is a training suit specifically made for you. It has an enchantment on it that allows the changing of its weight. It naturally weighs 50 pounds and can go up to 1000 pounds. When you have the strength of 1000 pounds, then you will have considered as mastering the body refinement realm. Your training will start with you wearing this starting at 100 pounds. I want you to wear this all the time."
Delilah nodded and accepted the piece chainmail suit of armor. After putting it on, it immediately shrunk to being paper thin and passed through her clothes sticking itself to her body. Delilah was becoming more and more amazed at the power of enchantments. She then focused her mind onto the armor and changed its weight to 100 pounds. Although she was okay right now, she knew that the longer she wore this, the more tired she would be.
"Since most of our day was taken I'll be leaving it at that. I do not want to see you late again, no matter the reason. For your training today, I want you to run 100 laps around the field. As for your punishment, increase the weight to 150 pounds. I won't be staying and it will count on your own integrity and determination whether you follow the assignment and punishment. Dismissed."
"Thank you, sir! I understand," said Delilah. She then bowed and started to run laps around the training field.
Roy was surprised at first but then nodded his head in approval and left. Soon the sun had set and on a large grass field could be seen as a little girl with exotic features panting while slowly trudging along. Delilah would occasionally slump on the floor but soon got up. She was halfway through the laps with the weight of her armor set at 160 pounds. She had added an extra 10 pounds as her own punishment. Delilah was not one bit unhappy. She was determined to become stronger in the least amount of time possible. This was the resolution she made for herself, her grandmother, and her kingdom.