She tried all sorts of bizarre strategies. First, she tried commanding the World Energy by talking. When that failed, she spoke diplomatically, almost like trying to coax a child. If anyone else were present, they would think she went crazy. She was literally talking to air! Then, she tried focusing on the lone candle. She hoped to control it through her mind and strained until she lost her breath. Now, one would think she had bowel movement problems… Elizabeth focused on her own Magic Energy as well, but it was wholly inert. It completely disobeyed her wishes! As the minutes ticked by, she became increasingly nervous.
She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and tried again. She exerted her full concentration and energy. Using her Magic Perception, she locked onto her Core. Starting with the first rune of Stone Shard, she began constructing her spell. As the symbols filled her head, a faint glimmer emerged from her ring. One could see runes! The first rune appeared, and Elizabeth grew delighted! However, the next moment, the spell shattered! A backlash! A massive headache grew in her head as she groaned. Since it was a single rune, the backlash was nearly negligible. But still, Elizabeth grew fearful over how powerful a backlash could be! It really could kill someone!
Well, it must be better than now, right? Elizabeth sighed.
Thinking that, she repeated the exact same process again with a little more finesse. One had to admit, even if one excluded everything she learned over the last few months, she still possessed an astonishing drive! That was the mentality of a monarch! She persevered through her migraines and experimented over and over again. Sometimes fast, sometimes slow, sometimes two runes at once, sometimes three… She was totally focused on this simple spell!
In a flash, an hour passed. While it seemed little, Elizabeth had relentlessly attempted Stone Shard more than hundred times! That was nearly twice every minute! And since she failed every time, that culminated in a hundred backlashes! Her head was swelling in pain as the migraines stacked up one after another. Her eyes were bloodshot, her nose bled, and her back was drenched. Overall, she was in a miserable state. Normally, when an Arcanist trained, they would try a tenth of what she did in an hour. This would allow the Arcanist to recover to their peak condition to maximize their chances of succeeding. But Elizabeth was always a stubborn person. Once she set her mind on anything, it would be hard to dissuade her.
Finally, after nearly falling unconscious to the pain, the glow of the spell materialized! A thin spike of stone hovered around her ring, waiting for her command! Unbelievably enough, she fast-tracked through a year of work in less than an hour. Any Arcanist would have to bow down to her skill. Of course, while no one could replicate her feat, it was not like no one tried the same thing as her. There were undoubtedly people far more stubborn. They would try until they collapsed, their Core shattered, or they crippled themselves! Yet, they failed where Elizabeth succeeded. If the effort was the same, then it must be talent! That would mean that Elizabeth's Magic Potential was… at a monstrous level, far outstripping Nassandra! She could be truly called a genius found once in every century!
Elizabeth felt too tired to smile. However, she refused to rest. Taking a deep breath, she was about to chisel away at her restraints when the cell door unlocked. She hesitated. Should she attack now or wait? But that hesitation lasted for a split second before she pointed the Stone Shard forward. Before the door fully opened, the shard burst out as fast as a crossbow bolt! The poor guard saw nothing until the spike pierced straight through his chest, bursting out his back. It carried such enormous force that his body flew back and slammed into the wall! Blood painted the walls as his eyes were wide open in disbelief. He died!
Elizabeth was shocked that her magic carried such lethality. It was not normal at all! The normal Stone Shard was a Low Gaseous Fog earth-type spell. While it boasted great penetrative power, that was relative to the other Low Gaseous Fog spells. It could penetrate through flesh, but not very far. However, it was impossible to pierce through a whole human body! For once, Elizabeth realized how odd her accomplishments were. She frowned except for only a moment. These were matters for another time. She turned her gaze to her metal restraints. In a few minutes, she successfully managed to free herself!
Unfortunately, since they were metal, they required nearly ten casts of Stone Shard to break! By the end, she really had a splitting headache. Her Core Level might have reached the Condensed Drop standard, allowing her to cast a hundred or a thousand of these spells, but that was her Core, not her. She was a genuine novice in skill and experience! Her flexibility, finesse, or casting speed could not compare to a Medium Gaseous Fog, much less a Ten Dawn! It was not easy to cast spells and she was finally succumbing to the strain.
With wobbly steps, she staggered out the cell. The corpse of the poor fellow she executed was lying there drenched in blood. Elizabeth had the urge to puke. Back in the Xingyuu Empire, she killed two people: Emperor Lianghu and Cardinal Shaolong. That monstrous spell that she debuted allowed the Alzar Kingdom to survive and cemented her feat as legendary. Everyone around the world heard her name! But that was done unconsciously so she had little to no memories about it. With the Second Hand, she never landed a killing blow either. Therefore, this was her first time killing someone!
She sighed. She was a compassionate person, but not an ignorant one. Had this guard been innocent, then she would have apologized profusely. Life was a sacred thing. It was not something that anyone could rob! Elizabeth knew this firsthand after experiencing so much death. Was her family also not robbed of their futures? Of course, she drew the line somewhere. Would she forgive the Xingyuu soldiers that killed her family? Of course not! If she was wronged, then she would return the favor a hundred-fold. That was her justice!
So, her gaze on this guard lasted for a fraction of a second before hardening. The ripples in her heart settled and froze. Elizabeth bent down and rummaged through the man's pockets. She picked up a sword and keys. Granted, her swordsmanship skill was near zero. Her time spent was dedicated mostly to archery and body strengthening. Queen Bethnal had a say in this. Archery could be seen as a refined art while swordsmanship could not. In Queen Bethnal's eyes, swordsmanship was fit for a brute. At the most, a swordsman's future was limited to the Royal Guard and never further. Hence, Elizabeth was a true amateur with a sword.
She might be able to pass off Arcania as a product of her peerless Magic Potential but look at her miserable state. As for using a sword once and mastering it? That would be truly courting death! Unless it was an emergency, she would never gamble her life in a clash of swords. On the other hand, while Arcania inflicted backlashes and Magic Energy was harder to recover than stamina, it was very versatile. It was much better to continue relying on her Stone Shard spell.
The hallways were dark and gloomy, illuminated by scant candlelight here and there. A damp musty smell filled the air. From this, she could guess she was underground. Perhaps a prison of sorts? Elizabeth was reminded of the Yunyun Stronghold. Although she fell unconscious, she estimated that she was under for less than three hours. With that speed, escaping far from Algard or Corasen seemed unlikely. Moreover, evading the Alzar Kingdom's detection would be extremely difficult to achieve. The times were different now. Her brave escape from Algard months ago was achieved through luck and coincidence. Now, everyone knew her, so it was nigh impossible to replicate it. Therefore, the most likely possibility was that she was still in the capital!
But judging by the size of the complex, it was clearly a large prison. There were a few places in Corasen which shared its size, such as the capital's underground prison. It housed all kinds of well-known criminals such as corrupted nobles, mass murderers, or Xingyuu spies. She never visited it, but she heard many stories about it. It was a graveyard that one died after suffering a long life of meticulous and horrendous torture reserved for the criminals with the most heinous of crimes. Unfortunately, it was clearly not related to here because the capital's prison was controlled by the kingdom. Elizabeth could never be there unknowingly. As for Algard, she shook her head. Algard was the holy capital of the kingdom, a place seen as the land of the elite, noble, and royalty! There was no way that criminals would be held in Algard. It was impossible! As a result, Elizabeth thought that she must be in Corasen.