Within an Imperial Castle, Gustav VII, the emperor of Maginev Empire was talking to his loyal minister. "How's that kingdom in the south?"
"Your Majesty, King Axel did succeed in removing our important piece in Baynard, but it also deeply hurt their kingdom. If we push the two kingdoms to attack, then it might not have the power to fight back," said Finley, the prime minister of the empire.
"How are you going to do that?"
"We can order our important pieces in the two kingdoms to send the princes to Baynard for diplomacy, then let them die on the road. The blame will be put on Baynard's head."
"They are not totally controlling the royal court yet. Letting two princes die won't be convincing. It looks blatant. The ministers and kings won't like it. It will make them feel and look like fools."
Finley smiled. "Your Majesty, we just need to make the reason looks acceptable. We can make them say that Baynard deliberately did it, so they could blame it to our empire and form an alliance against us. That reason should be enough to tempt them in conquering a vulnerable kingdom."
Gustav laughed. "It's a good plan, but if they succeed, then we need to give more promises to those men. Although our intelligence in Baynard is affected a lot, we could still gather some information especially in places where the influence of their royal court got weaker. Some forces want to move that could shake Baynard. We could watch from the sideline and take advantage when there is an opportunity. It's fine even if they fail.
Axel is dying and a trash is sitting on the throne. Once Axel died, we could just develop another piece and make the king our puppet. If we let a war happen between the kingdoms in the south, then how are we going to compensate our expenses with our war to that damn empire in the west if those kingdoms spend too much resources in the war. We want a peaceful takeover of the kingdoms to preserve their wealth for our empire. Pushing a war between them is a last resort."
Finley chuckled. "Your Majesty, your plan is better than mine."
Gustav had a loud laugh.
***
Van learned magic skills when he was studying at a magic academy. His royal uncle tried to teach him the exclusive skills of the royal family, but he gave up because he could not endure the training.
Edgar was not Van. He will seriously learn the exclusive skill that belongs to the Royal Family, Flameworth Sacred Art, and then bring it home to Earth. As he moved closer to the training ground, he could hear the loud shouts of the army.
STAB!
HAAA! CLAAANG!
He could hear clashes between metallic weapons.
Guards at the entrance of the training ground saluted Edgar when they saw him approaching.
"Tell Uncle Marco that I am looking for him," ordered Edgar to the guard.
"Yes, your highness!"
Marco was a member of the royal family and an uncle of Van. He was invited by the king to teach the sacred art. Van refused to continue the training, so Marco was waiting on the training ground until he changed his mind.
Edgar entered the training ground and went near the open space where the royal guards were training.
The pathway was made of stone. There were trees within the wall. The biggest space was for the army because of their large number. In an open space not too far from the army, the royal guards were practicing their aura.
Edgar felt amazed that all of them were capable of using aura. There were one hundred royal guards. The other four hundred were patrolling and guarding the royal castle. They were divided into five groups, and they were taking turns practicing.
He was quite a distance from the scene, and he did not show himself because he did not want to disturb their training. His focus on the royal guard's training was interrupted when he heard a loud laughter. He saw his uncle approaching while laughing.
"Hahaha! Did you finally change your mind?! I am bored to death while waiting. If I do not owe your father, I would have left a long time ago! I am pleased to see your change. The last time we met, you looked like shit! Hahahaha!" Marco was happy to see the posture and gaze of Van. His nephew no longer looked like a waste.
Edgar liked this uncle. Marco was straightforward. His uncle did not have the calculative traits of a royal family."Uncle, I'm sorry that I let you wait. I promise that I will seriously keep my training!"
"Keep your promise, kid, because if you don't, I will make you regret it! Learn seriously! If you master Flameworth Sacred Art, you can roam the world!"
Edgar felt more excited when he heard it. They moved together in a smaller open space surrounded by trees. He requested Marco to teach him the basics again because Van was not serious about his training.
"Flameworth Sacred Art Skills will require mastery in control of mana and aura. The lowest level of magician required is 4th circle and 3rd level in aura. Our sacred art art has a complete set of training on how to master aura and fire element. Our royal lineage has the best aptitude for aura and fire element in the kingdom. As long as you are a royal descendant and train our sacred art, even if you are a waste, you will become the best of waste!" Marco introduced the sacred art. He had a look of pride while explaining because their ancestors sacrificed a lot of blood and sweat to create one of the most powerful sacred arts in the world.
"Flameworth Sacred Art has four skills." Marco became serious. He distanced himself from Edgar and took a sword stance. Aura enveloped his whole body and sword.
"FIRST SKILL: A very powerful slash that crushes the defense of the enemy and cuts anything in its way."
"DEATH SLASH!!"
Seven meters of a red energy blade made up of aura moved into the sky
"SECOND SKILL. Concentrated strikes that penetrate small gaps in the tough defense of the enemy."
"DEATH BEAM!!"
Marco rapidly stabbed, then three red energy beams hit the wall thirty meters away.
"THIRD SKILL. A nightmare of an enemy on the battlefield. A storm of blades that destroy the enemy's formation."
"SWORD HURRICANE!!"
A tornado with many aura blades appeared and moved to the sky.
A ground cracked where a tree was standing, then it was pulled to the tornado along with soil, and boulders. They were all cut and crushed.
Edgar looked at the messy training ground and smiled helplessly at the carelessness of his uncle.
"FOURTH SKILL. The most powerful skill of Flameworth Sacred Art. It is when aura and fire energy must combine. Each swing is as powerful as a death slash. Each stab is as powerful as a death beam. A large swing could create a sword hurricane."
Marco looked very serious as he held his sword above his head.
The aura that surrounded his whole body and sword was getting stronger. Threads of aura were rotating around him. He was accumulating energy.
"KING'S SWORD!!!"
Edgar was very excited to witness the strongest skill of their family, but after waiting for a while, nothing happened.
"Hahahahaha!" Marco was loudly laughing. He was only teasing Edgar. Many of the royal family members knew that only the king could inherit the last skill, and Van, as a crown prince, should know that Marco cannot wield the last skill. Edgar did not know because Van did not bother to ask.
"I was only teasing you because you do not seem to know that only the king can inherit the fourth skill. I can't help it because you look serious and excited! Hahahaha!" Marco enjoyed teasing Van. He started liking the prince. He did not like the prince before because the prince was lazy and infamous for debauchery. His nephew changed and very eager to learn.
Edgar was speechless. He did not expect that Marco would tease him, but he also felt relieved. He felt closer to his royal uncle. Marco could help change the views of the elders of the royal family on Van. Getting the complete cooperation of members of the royal family could be much faster with the help of his uncle.
Marco calmed down and continued his teaching.
"King's sword is the first form of the fourth skill. The requirement is 3rd level aura master and 4th circle magician. The reason why aura and fire energy must combine is to reach the second form, The King's Field. In that field, you are the King. As King, you can mobilize the field to crush the enemy with powerful magic skills. Since the creation of our sacred art, only the founder successfully reached the second form. No other king was able to do it again. The founder said that fire energy and aura must be combined." Marco stared at Edgar, whose eyes looked yearning for that power. Then he looked up and down.
Edgar's eyes were good, but he could not erase signs of debauchery from his body in just a few hours. He was a little thin, had eye bags, and his cheeks were a little sunken. Marco sighed, he was sad that he might not ever witness the birth of Flameworth's King Field.
"Next, I will teach you Aura."