Roughly four days had passed before I was comfortable enough to showcase what I had read to my father. Quite disappointingly to both him and I, however, he was insistent on having me wait until the assessment.
With that no longer being an option, I attempted to as Amun did and instruct my vassals in their magics.
Or, I tried to, at least.
I had no 'fundamental' understanding of swords, mirrors, pearls, feathers, or even bronze. I only knew a bit about lava, steel, crystals, and magnetism.
Or, that's what I thought.
With nothing else to do, I spent another day training on my own before I gave in and sought out Amun for a personal lesson. It was just before dusk when I began the search around the castle for him. I must've rounded the place thrice over the course of a few hours until it finally hit me.
Not even ten minutes later and I was at the front of their guest cabin, meekly knocking on the door. Coincidentally, it was the one named Jonet who I found first. Samantha's spitting image.
I remembered she had sound magic only after I told her of my intentions. When she simply looked up into the sky and whispered that I wished to speak with Amun.
And in the next moment, his baritone voice rippled from behind, startling me to my core.
Pivoting on my heels, I turned to see him standing to my side about a meter away. Smiling as if he'd been there the whole time and it took until now for me to notice. Leaving me stunned while Jonet simply bowed and backed away.
"How can I help you, princess?" He monotonously asked again.
"I hear you're gifted in elemental manipulation as well," I said after shaking my composure upright. "I would like some lessons. Please." I lowered my head.
"Sure." He amiably shrugged. Then squatted to reach into a dark amorphous pool that suddenly spread below his feet. From it, he retrieved a pair of books and promptly handed them to me.
I hurriedly took them to look through the titles. Titles that interested me greatly at just a glance. 'The Fundamentals of Elemental Manipulation, by Amun of Odissi.' 'Elemental Fundamentals II: Elemental Fusion, by Amun of Odissi.' 'Introduction to the Periodic Table of the Elements and The Phases of Matter, by Amun of Odissi.'
"Those are yours to keep." He nonchalantly added. "Read and come to understand them. Take as much time as you need."
"Th- that's it?" I stammered. "I know you know more than just this. Teach me what you spoke of earlier."
"I gave you books regarding all of your affinities, Princess." He spat with cold condescension. "Besides that, my priority is on the assessment."
He gave me a foul grin as he slowly began rising into the sky. And without thinking I reached up to him. "Wait!"
"What?" He turned down to me, groaning impatiently.
'How rude.' I gasped. Then took a deep breath to subdue the heat rising within me. "I have something to show you," I said as I turned on my heels and threw a coy smile over my shoulder.
"Okay." He sighed. "Show me."
"Not here." I shook my head. "Follow me."
After skipping along for a few paces and hearing nothing but silence behind me, the burning annoyance turned with a vengeance. Forcing me to spin on my heels and immediately spin back in embarrassment.
'So close.' I internally gasped.
Turning slower this time, I again saw Amun's inverted face occupying most of my vision. He was floating just over my shoulder. Drifting with his back to the ground as if he were lounging in a bed made of air.
Turning back to my front, the burning in my chest began spreading to my face. Forcing an increase in my pace that eventually resulted in me power walking towards the gymnasium with a half-drow steadily drifting over my shoulder.
I waited until I made it to the center of the training grounds before I stopped and hoped with all my heart that Amun didn't run into me.
Thankfully, he seamlessly drifted past me to then loop around my body like a humanoid tetherball that'd been left to stare off at the large gems embedded into the walls.
"Those enchantments regenerate any structural damage to the place." I eagerly explained. "This is where I grew up practicing my steel magic. And it's where I've spent the last few days with my vassals or with my father, training.
"I'm surprised your vassals haven't come here." I wondered aloud.
"Well, they can all fly. So." Amun amiably shrugged. "They're probably off in the woods somewhere. Training on their own."
"You give them a lot of independence," I commented.
"It's good for them." He nodded. "They'll be leading their own subordinates one day. I'm only preparing them early."
"You're serious about this, aren't you?" I asked. "You actually intend to go to Ulai?"
"Why wouldn't I be?" Amun scoffed.
"Because there's no reason to." I shook my head in confusion. "The barrier holds the monsters back for us. The weaker monsters are taken care of by the guilds. And even if you somehow eradicate them. The portals will still be there."
"How long do you think the barrier will last." Amun contemptuously laughed.
"It's held for almost two and a half centuries." I scoffed.
"Don't be naive, princess." Amun calmly said. "Two hundred years is not a long time. That's not even half of your father's lifetime. We'd be fools to place our hopes on a flimsy barrier that holds back armies potentially made hundreds of millions of monsters. If it breaks, this beloved society of ours will cease to exist. As will every society in Maru."
"And you plan to do this yourself?" I laughed in disbelief.
"With my guild." Amun curtly nodded. "Yes."
I could only look at him in a stupor. His perpetually calm demeanor made it nearly impossible to read him. As such, I couldn't tell if he'd been toying with me the entire time or if he was completely serious. Sure, he seemed resolute in his convictions. But the tone he had when talking of his outrageous goals only made me think he took the entire affair too lightly. Even though he himself conveyed an understanding of the dangers involved.
He was out of his mind.
"What did you want to show me?" He impatiently asked.
"I've mastered your electricity." I spat back, then stepped a few ways away from him.
As before, I created magnetic fields around my hands and spun them around at a furious pace. After a few seconds of charging, I swung a hood at the air, sending a cluster of sparks arcing to a training dummy a few meters away.
"That's good." Amun frowned and nodded in surprise at the obliterated target. "But." He sighed, morphing his roused expression into one of bemusement. "Why is it so small?"
"W- what?" I shook my head.
"Make it bigger." He simply said. "And put it behind your body."
"Show me." I took an unconscious step forward. Followed by another. "At full power."
He made a face but returned to the ground nonetheless. Or a centimeter or two above it, at least. I wondered for a second if he ever intended to walk again before that thought was ripped asunder by the feeling of mana surging behind me.
Turning, I saw he made two massive fields that extended to the crown of his head and began spinning both of them in opposite directions. At that time, I instantly felt the surging sensation of lightning accumulating in his body. Instead of remaining within his body as it did with mine, however, the energy began lashing out at our surroundings, proving to him that my aforementioned claim wasn't a mere boast.
Even then though, my boast was a petty notion in comparison to what transpired next.
After extending both pointer fingers, the energy coursing with Amun ceased its lashing and instead began jumping across to hands to then course back through his arm and body and merge with the flood of mana emerging from his core to travel up his other arm in a continuous loop.
Seconds and seconds of charging ensued until I felt as if two or even more of my wells had been released into his body.
Only then, did Amun thrust his right arm forward. Releasing the pent-up energy in the form of an undulating stream of lightning that shocked the still night into a noon-like ambiance while it made its way skyward.
A brilliant blossom blessed my eyes once the massive bolt impacted the heavens. Spreading the thickest blanket of lightning I'd ever seen across the clouds in an instant. Illuminating what I was sure was the entirety of Maru with a light show of intense blue colors and patterns that I could only describe as divine.
Followed by a deafening, bone-shattering torrent of thunder that could easily outmatch the roar of any beast.
Much to my dismay, the sensation lasted for well over a minute before the spell finally puttered out. Sending the last residual streams of lightning into the sky before it too dissipated in the clouds far away. Pitting the arena in a sudden darkness that seemed to amplify the thunder continuing to roll in from the distance.
I could only sit in awe for the next few moments. Fully aware of the fact that my mouth was completely agape as I stared, wide-eyed at Amun, doubled over and gasping heavily while the ambient energy poured into him. Topping his reserves up in record time.
After a few more moments or perhaps minutes, I finally managed to pull myself to my feet and help the Grand Duke of Odissi to his. "How- how much mana did you use?" I gasped.
"All of it." He cackled like a mad lad. "I wanted to test my limits. And it was either this, destroy everything or put Maru through an hour of darkness."
A cold shudder rand down my spine from the mere mention of it. A shudder that was followed by a wave of relief. Quelling my unease like the distant thunder finally waning out.
The darkness was something I was comfortable with. Or at least, that's what I used to think. With the stars, one could just barely see at night. With torchlight and enchantments, however, entire cities could be illuminated until dawn. But that darkness was… invasive. It permeated my mind just as much as it did the environment. Filling my head with all kinds of horrific thoughts.
It was a sensation I never wanted to experience for the rest of my days.
After only a few minutes, I felt the mana around Amun stabilizing. Causing my admiration to swell once again from the question of how wide his pores must've been for him to recover that much mana so quickly. Still, it was evident that Amun was still plagued by the after-effects of mana exhaustion. As he was sluggishly draped over an invisible something in the midair like he was half-asleep.
"That was amazing, Amun!" I finally managed to say. "The mages will surely be impressed with you!"
"Yeah." He lethargically sighed.
I frowned at myself after seeing the lousy demeanor of the powerful initiate floating before me. It was obvious from the start that he felt as if he had something better to do, and now, he was far more fatigued than he was when I demanded his presence; though that was due to his own accord. That said, he and I were considered equals within the hierarchy of our Empires. Yet, he still took the time to heed my request. With that request now carried out, I realized that I was only holding him up. So I politely thanked him before bowing to step off.
"Thank you, Amun." I smiled. "You will make a great magus someday."
"And you will find your calling in due time, Princess." He smiled in turn. Then drifted off back into the sky.
Alone once again, I sat against the wall of the arena and began reading through the books Amun gave me.
They were… extraordinary, to say the least. Fundamental ways, as he said, to manipulate the elements. And more so, how to fuse them to manipulate things like dust, mud, or high-powered flames.
After spending nearly the entire night reading and putting the new knowledge to the test, I gathered my vassals at sunrise and began drilling them with everything I'd learned until I almost collapsed from fatigue on the spot.
I repeatedly ordered them to keep training until dusk as I was dragged off by a group of servants and forced to sleep.
And sleep I did.
For nearly an entire day, I slept. Leaving a measly two days of preparing before the assessment began. Naturally, I ripped myself out of bed and devoted a full day to training with my vassals and by that night, my father sent word that everyone's training was restricted so that we could have time to rest for the ceremony the following day.
I knew that come morning, the officials from throughout the empire and high-ranking officers from the militaries and guilds would be showing their faces more and more than they already were, so I decided to lay low around the residential quarters until the assessment finally began.