Planet Aeturn
Dorcaster Star System
7th January
Year 711 of the 50th General Calendar
Layla Eryrth's eyelids fluttered open to reveal a set of green eyes that looked around her in confusion. The ten-year-old devil realized she was in her room in her family mansion on Aeturn.
What she didn't understand, however, was how she got there as the last thing she recalled was herself walking to her father's study after her birthday banquet.
She remembered that she had just bid the royal family farewell for the night when her magic power suddenly became slightly unstable.
Deciding to ask her father about it, she turned around and was about to begin walking to his study where she believed he was.
--That was the last thing she remembered before waking up on her bed. She noticed her mother, Iberis, sleeping on the sofa in her room, having fallen asleep while looking after her.
She felt very uncomfortable lying down so she sat up, only to feel more weight on her shoulders than usual.
Looking back, she saw a pair of jet-black bat-like wings sticking out of her back. It was then she finally realized the reason she collapsed in the first place.
She checked her energies and saw that not only was her manipulation smoother than she remembered, the amount of energy she possessed was also triple its previous amount.
Naturally, her action of using her energy was sensed by her mother who woke up and hurriedly rushed up to her before checking her body all over to make sure she was alright before hugging Layla and sighing in relief.
Seeing the black-haired, obsidian-eyed woman's face full of relief instead of her usual stern expression brought a smile to Layla's face.
'It'd be nice if she was always like this. Too bad she'd probably go back to being strict by tomorrow.'
She circled her hands around her mother's back and hugged her, creating a sweet atmosphere between the two.
Sadly, this was interrupted by her Father who barged into the room and repeated the same set of actions her mother just did.
Layla passing out right when her 'Magic Blooming' was about to start was not something that should happen, as such, her parents were worried about her.
It took a full five minutes for her to break out of her mother's tight hug, after which she decided to take a bath and freshen herself up.
After this, she went over to her father's study and suggested that she takes her energy manipulation training to the next level, so she would not lose control of her increased amount of energy at a crucial time.
On her to-do list, were two other things. Learning how to fly using her newly acquired wings, and absorbing more energy cores to increase her strength.
Absorbing the energy cores of monsters, magical beasts, or other sentient humanoids, was the most widely known way of improving one's strength and increasing in realm/level of existence.
When an energy core was absorbed, part of the energy contained within was used to strengthen the physical body of the one absorbing it.
The remaining energy is then used to increase the energy level of that person, except in some cases where one might have a special physique or a racial trait that makes their energy absorption occur differently.
In addition, when absorbing energy cores, one must be careful not to absorb too much energy or absorb energy from a core that was above their realm of existence by a large margin.
If one was in the inferior stage of the master realm, it was advisable to absurd only cores of the inferior, intermediate, and superior stages of the master realm.
Absorbing anything higher, came with a 50% chance of imploding due to the difference in energy levels. This chance increased as the stage increased so it was advisable to only absorb cores up to two stages above oneself.
Anything else was simply courting death.
If someone in the master realm absorbed a legendary realm existence's energy core, it would result in that person's body being unable to take it and there were various consequences.
One could have a decrease in strength by a few stages or entire realms. Some might lose the ability to absorb energy for either a period of time or the rest of their lives.
In the worst-case scenario, they would instantly die.
After increasing in stages or realms, one's energies are temporarily in a state of instability. Thus, it was advisable for one to take a break from absorbing energy cores for a while and stabilize their strength.
Although there were many ways to achieve this, the best way was simply through fights or battles.
These were also ways to increase one's realm of existence.
All beings possessed energy cores within their bodies, these energy cores could take upon many forms like the 'Dragon Heart' of a dragon or the 'Divine Spark' of a god.
Upon defeating and killing an enemy in battle, a percentage of the defeated being's energy core was passively absorbed by the one who defeated them.
The percentage varied depending on various circumstances, including racial traits, use of artifacts or magic tools, and the location of the battle.
As Layla recalled this information, she felt joy, thinking about how she was going to become stronger again.
'Perhaps I can deal with those foolish cousins of mine...'
She shook her head to get those thoughts out of her mind as she suddenly had an idea.
"Speaking of becoming stronger, maybe I'd challenge Arthur this time. I should be able to win without running out of energy."
As soon as she said that, the faces of her parents clouded instantly. When she asked what was wrong, her father deliberated on it for a few moments before answering.
"Layla, have you looked at your phone since you woke up?"
"Huh? Come to think of it I haven't."
Picking up her phone that she carried with her from her room, she switched it on to see various unread messages, more so than she expected. However, the real surprise was the date.
"Haaaa! It's been three days?! How the hell did I sleep so long?!"
She began clearing up most of the unwanted messages before discovering two links that caught her eyes. They were both news headlines about Arthur so she opened them.
[Prince Arthur's Magic Blooming Failure.]
[Young Prince's Defect-Unable to use energies after tenth birthday.]
Upon seeing these headlines, her first reaction was to question their authenticity. She asked her dad why the royals haven't taken action against the one who spread the news, however, the reply she got wasn't what she expected.
"Firstly, it is true the prince is unable to use his energy, his energy flow has become stagnant. I personally confirmed this.
Secondly, the one who spread the news was none other than the prince himself."
Her father's reply left her gobsmacked for a moment. The next, she excused herself and left the mansion, going straight to the royal castle using the Eryrth duchy's teleportation gate that had direct access to the castle.
◇ ◇ ◇
Upon arriving at the castle, the knights standing guard at the teleportation gate let her in, as they were already familiar with her. They had also been given orders by Arthur to give her free reign in the castle as long as she did not go somewhere out of bounds.
Confirming that Arthur was indeed in his southeastern tower, she went over there and asked the servants she found for his location.
The servants informed her that he was in the training hall on the fifth floor. Upon arriving there, she opened the door and was about to speak, however, the sight she encountered left her dumbfounded.
The hall was large, with spatial expansion magic cast on it to make it look five times larger than it actually was.
Normally, there was a collection of hundreds of top-tier artifacts on the walls alongside various weapons of exceptional quality.
The floor was usually covered in a sturdy material that was also safe enough to prevent injuries from falls during spars.
That was how the hall was supposed to look, however, what she saw now, was different.
There was sand on the floor, an amount of sand that should only be found on beaches. There was also a net installed in the middle. The actions of the people playing in the room were also far from expectations.
To sum it up, they were playing beach volleyball.
Arthur, Cattleya, and Hades vs Creusery, Diablo, and Inglis.
Refereeing, was Aurora.
It would have still been fine if it were normal volleyball, however, they were infusing magic power into the ball that was obviously an artifact.
The effects of this were simple; the ball became stronger, faster, and more lethal. Layla was sure she would be dead if it accidentally hit her in the head.
It was a sight she never expected to see in her lifetime, the sight of the Devil King Diablo, whose name struck fear into the hearts of many, playing volleyball with his family like any normal human on a day off from work would.
Naturally, they all knew of her arrival beforehand so the servants were instructed to be hospitable to her.
She just couldn't comprehend the sight in front of her so she sat down to cool her head with the cold drinks the servants brought as she watched all of them fly around with their wings.
'Wait. All of them?'
She looked back up immediately and saw Arthur skillfully flying with a pair of jet-black bat-like wings like hers.
'So the news was a lie?'
By the time she was done questioning herself, they were already finished with their game.
"Layla."
Arthur's shout brought her out of her sea of thoughts, however, the young prince pulled her from her seat and into the sand before she could react.
She only heaved a sigh in exasperation as she grabbed his shoulders and asked.
"Explanation."
"Context?"
Layla held up her phone and showed him the news headlines about his failed magic blooming with an expressionless face.
This caused Arthur to realize she was serious as he dropped the ball in his hands and decided to give her the explanation she sought.
"So where do we start? How about I just recount everything that happened from after the party that night?"