Some time earlier, in the Lannisail Household's secret floor, Elizabeth slowly woke up. Her head was swelling from when she was knocked out. As she looked around, she realized she was chained up in an empty cell. Since the floor was underground, the only light came from a scant candle nearby. The room was entirely dark otherwise. She tried fumbling out, but her restraints were iron-clad. She could not budge at all. Her expression turned somber as she smiled bitterly. Was this not the same as half a year ago when she was captured by the Xingyuu Empire?
Back then, her fate had fallen into the hands of her captors. Her life and death could be decided on a whim. It was incredibly humiliating and frustrating to experience that feeling of helplessness. She was treated less than an insect! Hence, when she returned to Castle Reinhard, she desperately wanted to raise her personal strength. She was a simple person from a simple background. Relying on abstract concepts like wealth, status, or influence was too vague for her. She could not imagine the power to rule over millions of people at all! That was a product of her upbringing on New Havens! As was said before, compared to the Grand Nobility, she really was too different. Those heirs were not wrong in pointing this out. In fact, they were dead on!
However, it was not given much priority. She had to learn more important things over the course of one year to reach the heir apparent standard! Otherwise, her position would be robbed from her and another candidate would be chosen. Learning swordsmanship, archery, or Arcania was appropriately ignored. Queen Bethnal wanted to nurture a queen out of Elizabeth, not a warrior or a brute. Elizabeth's skills and body thus developed very slowly. Nevertheless, she worked hard and developed her body to the level of a Fundamental Realm Adept. That was the same standard of a regular Knight of the Realm!
Elizabeth was frustrated because she was captured again but that was not too surprising. Against Captain Julian and Vice-captain Julie of the Second Hand, who boasted combat power like Sir Winstin, what could she do? While Elizabeth's achievement in defeating two Second Hand assassins was impressive, those assassins were tied down by Benedict. Adding to that, those two were tired already from tangling with the other guards. This resulted in their combat power falling greatly, even though they were Fundamental Realm Masters. So, Elizabeth failing to resist was understandable. But because it was understandable, she became depressed. Nothing changed!
Wait! That's not entirely right! It dawned on her as a slight smile emerged.
She realized that her clothes and outfit were untouched. Although her bow and quiver were missing and she appeared unarmed, that was a lie! She had her ring still! Of course, this was no ordinary ring, but one forged out of Asaparagon Wood. Asaparagon Wood was like any other wood except it had a miraculous property: it could help channel and focus Magic Energy! This was precisely the material used to create wands for Arcanists. The traditional wand shape had nothing to do with utility or function. There was no special reason behind it at all. Rather, it was the simplest shape to mass produce. In other words, a wand was the cheapest and easiest available tool for an Arcanist.
Elizabeth's ring was a special case. She had it created a few months ago to help her practice Arcania. She memorized all the different theories and concepts behind magic; however, since she rarely had free time, she never touched it. Her skill in Arcania remained at the surface-level. That was why she could not use it during her battle with the Second Hand. But if one recalled her monstrous feat during the final battle with the emperor, her potential was anything but normal! Her Magic Aura was so overwhelming and powerful that it directly knocked Arcanists unconscious! Even Perception Realms felt fear over her awe-inspiring might! Perhaps it stemmed from her bow… Perhaps it stemmed from her. But no matter what, who knew how high their limit was?
She resolved herself. Any spell was akin to a blade. As long as she learned an appropriate spell, she had the chance to free herself! Since there was a chance to escape, she did not hesitate. Simple spells would also have weaker backlashes, so she was not too scared. Elizabeth calmed down and began running through the theories. First, she had to feel and manipulate the Magic Energy inside her Core. This was her first time trying anything like this, so she instantly frowned. It required her Magic Perception to be sufficiently developed, but what was Magic Energy? Magic Energy was intangible! Forget sensing it, Elizabeth had no idea where to begin!
According to theory, Magic Energy was created from harnessing the larger World Energy. This type of energy was prevalent throughout all of creation. From the rocks to the air, from the plants to the humans, everything had a trace of it. It could be said that World Energy was the fundamental building block of the world. Hence, Elizabeth closed her eyes and tried focusing on everything around her. The slight breeze from outside, the warm glow of the candle, the musty smell of the cell… Everything entered her senses. She became calm and relaxed, taking several deep breaths to settle her mind. And then she began to sense something… something unusual. It was so faint that she nearly missed it. Unless she strained her senses and concentration to the maximum, she would never notice it.
It was hard to describe. If she had to describe it, it was like experiencing the life force of the world! It was as vast as the sky, as deep as the ocean, and as solid as the earth. For example, when one entered a forest, they would hear the chirping of birds, the squirming of insects, and the motions of animals… The trees, bushes, and grasses, everything made the forest feel alive! It would make one realize that they were one small part of this larger world! But Elizabeth was feeling a subtler feeling, something more fundamental and universal. There was no nature in her cell, but she could feel this pulse nonetheless. Like an invisible web connecting everything in creation, she could intimately sense her presence in this world! This was World Energy!
I succeeded? She was dumbfounded. Is this really World Energy? Was it that easy?
Indeed, she succeeded in awakening her Magic Perception! Elizabeth thought that maybe Arcanists overexaggerated the difficulty and shrugged it off. Except that was a very poor misunderstanding… To begin with, her method was completely wrong. Normally, Arcanists started by sensing their own internal World Energy to slowly form their Core. Through this long and tedious process, they could awaken their Magic Perception and then Magic Energy. The time required was an astonishing several months up to years! Compared to training the body through the Fundamental Realm, there was a greater requirement on aptitude and talent. There were many that could never take the first step!
Then, what about Elizabeth? She succeeded in the span of a minute! If any Arcanist were present, they would cry. Even Ten Dawn Nassandra, boasting one of the greatest Magic Potential, did not achieve such a thing. Elizabeth's feat practically transcended legendary. It was absurd! But if one thought about it carefully, then they would discover something more shocking. She could extend her Magic Perception outward to the outside! That meant her Core Level was at the minimum of Condensed Drop! One had to know that there were a little more than ten publicly recognized Condensed Drop Arcanists. She had the Core Level on par or exceeding the Ten Dawns! So, in a sense, extending her perception outward was expected of her…
Elizabeth was blissfully unaware of this and moved on, but she began to stumble on the next step. She had to choose a spell, construct it, then cast it successfully! Awakening her Magic Perception was only the first step! There were many different classifications of magic, just like how there were many schools of weapon mastery. While one could learn swords, axes, halberds, or rapiers, an Arcanist could learn elemental-type, sensory-type, recovery-type, and so on. Out of the vast classifications, elemental-type was one of the easiest to learn. After consideration, she decided on earth-type magic. Although its cost was high relative to air-type, it was the most robust and concrete. Moreover, she was trying to cut off her restraints! Using any other elemental-type would be too hard…
The most basic earth-type spell was called Stone Shard. It would create a simple stone shard which could be used as a projectile. Elizabeth began familiarizing herself with the spell structure. Her memory was already considered extremely impressive, thanks to her months of training, so she recalled the information quickly. However, she wanted to really cry next. Constructing a spell required manipulating her Magic Energy! Sensing was one thing, but manipulating was another. How could she force her energy to form runes, much less a Magic Circle?