Judging by the military prowess I had observed from three countries so far, we would have to either strengthen them or hope other worlds were more advanced.
Archmages of the first rank were already considered rare in this world and the only ones stronger than them that I knew of were the world gods here. But even they were subpar and only had a prowess that equaled to a rank three maybe rank four archmage.
The surface world seems slightly better. Most figures in influential positions are rank one archmages but anything above that is still rare. The hurdle composed of gaining an innate understanding impeded them greatly in their development.
Unbeknownst I had been standing there for more than an hour musing over the future possibilities and what actions I would take. Albion had finished his training and left the royal guards exhausted and on the ground. He stretched, flexing the muscles of his upper body that were shining due to the sweat coating them before wearing a loose gotten shirt. The shirt was courtesy to some of the maids and noble ladies that were trying to flood the training area with their drool as their fiery gazes roved over Albion's body.
Getting that kind of attention as a prince was to be expected but I wouldn't want to trade places with him. Then, Albion noticed me standing at the edge of the training area and briskly walked over.
"How long have you been watching? You could have joined us if you wanted."
"I appreciate the offer Albion but I'm not much for sparring."
A lie. I would never say no to a good spar but fighting Albion wouldn't be fun for either of us. He would get depressed over being unable to do anything to me and I would feel bad for bullying someone weaker.
"Ah, you must be more magically inclined. I'd be happy to discuss some things about magic with you."
Albion seemed to always be looking for an opportunity to improve. I didn't know what drove him but I could relate, moving forward was the only way to get closer to any goal in life. I thought about Albion's new proposal and decided to test him a little.
"Before we talk about magic, how about a philosophical question. If you found out that your kingdom was about to become the battlefield of two powerful forces and you couldn't afford to fight either of them, what would you do?"
Albion gave me a strange look before adopting a more pensive look. He took a few minutes to think it over before he looked straight into my eyes.
"Can we truly not fight either one?"
"That would be the assumption, yes."
"If I was forced to make such a choice I would opt to ally with one of the forces or join them entirely. But I get the feeling that this question isn't philosophical, is it?"
"Who knows..."
"Can you tell me about the other force then? I'd at least like to know that much."
"The light alliance is one of the three great forces in the known multiverses. Their base values are justice and the greater good. In order to bring this greater good to every corner of the multiverses, they won't stop at anything no matter how morally incorrect it seems. They justify their every action with the greater good and act very pragmatic when it comes to strategic decisions. But that's just my opinion."
Albion kept thinking for another minute. This had been a rather large volume of info that carried quite a lot of weight after all.
"If I were to choose to ally with you, what benefits would that entail?"
"That's hardly a question I can answer. If you truly want to know I suggest you arrange a meeting with Aurelia, the current guild master of all branches within this world."
"I'll do that then."
He appeared hesitant but worked up the courage and once again asked if we could discuss some things about magic. Since he had truthfully answered my previous question I nodded in assent.
"You are a high mage specializing in the element of ice so I guess that will be our main topic. First though, have you begun to develop an innate understanding?"
"Why would I do that? Only after getting breaking through to become a rank one archmage can I gain an innate understanding."
"That explains why rank twos are so incredibly rare here. How to explain this... Let's try this. When learning a sword you are generally only allowed to create your own style after you have mastered the basics. But have you never thought about your style before mastering the basics?"
"I did think about it. Developing a style from scratch is hard so most apprentices secretly try to do that."
"Exactly. And why would magic be different? You won't gain an innate understanding before condensing your magic power into magic essence but you can nonetheless begin to develop it now and save time later."
"I never thought of that. How should I even start?"
"Albion, if there was a correct way to do it someone would have written it in a book and spread it a long time ago. It's like creating a fighting style, you think of what the element means to you and it just works out. So far no identical innate understandings have been discovered so you'll have to forge your own path."
"So there truly is no easy way to get stronger?"
"Depends on your definition of easy. However, there is one piece of advice I can give you. As the name says you are trying to understand something so observing that something in any possible way might help you realize what you are searching for."
"So I'm supposed to look at ice?"
"You're not supposed to do anything but maybe it will help. Magic is still a mystery in many regards so sometimes trying whatever comes to mind yields far greater results than going by conventional ways."