In this world, a true anomaly was born—an absolute uncertainty, a complete abnormality. A perfection within imperfection.
A young boy dashed through the palace halls, weaving between two guards patrolling the corridors. They turned, ready to scold the intruder, only to freeze when they recognized him—Prince Lloyd, the fifth and youngest child of the king.
Shorter than most ten-year-olds, Lloyd hurried through the grand palace, his jet-black royal hair, neatly braided, flowing slightly past his shoulders. He panted from the exertion but finally arrived at his destination—the palace library.
A bright grin spread across his face as he stepped inside, excitement shining in his dark eyes. He immediately began scouring the shelves, searching eagerly for books on magic.
You see, Lloyd was a very peculiar boy.
He had grown up with little care or supervision from anyone. Left to fend for himself, he felt no passion for anything—lonely and adrift—until the day he witnessed magic for the first time. From that moment, he was captivated. At the age of four, he began practicing magic relentlessly.
His talent was extraordinary, far beyond what even the most accomplished mages in the kingdom could hope to achieve. Yet no one knew.
Lloyd had learned the dangers of revealing his power too soon. When he was five, a mere experiment with magic resulted in a colossal blast that tore a hole in the atmosphere above a distant mountain range. The aftermath left the entire region—and even the neighboring kingdoms—in complete darkness for three days.
It was then Lloyd decided: his true abilities would remain a secret.
But today was different. Special.
Today, he had finally gained access to a restricted section of the palace's magical library, where the kingdom's most powerful and ancient spells were stored.
Book after book, incantation after incantation—he devoured the knowledge. In less than ten minutes, he had memorized and mastered 1,379 spells and incantations. His mind, gifted with unnatural accelerated development, absorbed knowledge at a speed far beyond even the kingdom's greatest prodigies.
Just as he reached for the next tome, a voice interrupted him.
"Prince Lloyd, just what do you think you're doing?"
Lloyd flinched.
The voice belonged to a young woman with silver hair, clad in a crisp maid's uniform. Sylpha.
A nervous bead of sweat trickled down his forehead as he slowly turned around, forcing a sheepish grin.
"U-uh... S-Sylpha... I-I was just... preparing for training?" he stammered, voice trembling with guilt.
Sylpha's stern gaze narrowed. "It seems to me, Prince Lloyd, that you're doing the exact opposite."
Moments later, the palace echoed with the yelps of a soft-voiced boy.
"Ow, ow, ow, ow! Please, Sylpha, it hurts!"
Lloyd squirmed as Sylpha dragged him down the grand palace corridors—firmly by the ear.
Sylpha was Lloyd's personal maid, trainer, and bodyguard. Hired three years ago, she had faithfully devoted herself to his training, ensuring he grew stronger and more disciplined under her guidance.
However, her devotion extended far beyond duty. Sylpha harbored a deep, unwavering love for Lloyd—one that consumed her heart completely. This affection often revealed itself in a rather perverted manner, both around him and in private.
She was also noticeably possessive of Lloyd, keeping a watchful eye on anyone who got too close. Quick to intervene at the slightest hint of unwelcome attention, Sylpha was ever vigilant, especially when she felt anyone was to affectionate or to close to Lloyd.
Groaning in pain, me and sylpha finally made our way to the training grounds.
Rubbing my ear, I quickly went over to grab one the Wooden play swords me and sylpha use to train.
Sylpha then grabs the other wooden sword and gets in to a stance, holding the sword down behind her other shoulder, she then focuses on Lloyd. Her long silver hair flowing, tied into a long ponytail, her form radiating elegance and might.
With a quick exhale, I assume my position and dash towards Sylpha.
We quickly clash, causing a small wave of pressure to come from the clash. I jump back and thrust the sword towards Sylpha but she easily dodges it.
We then clash several times, the tip of our swords touching several times each clash.
I then jump back with a huff and began to analyze Sylpha.
Sylpha is a very powerful swordsman, obviously she would win against someone like me very easily, but I'm able to hang with her swordsmanship due to me copying her exact sword style and how she moves. But just doing that won't close the gap between us, due to her being taller, stronger, and more experienced. So I casted levitation magic, sword length enhancement, and stat amplification magic to increase my strength.
Doing this, I was able to fight on equal footing with Sylpha.
As we fought, I kept mimicking Sylpha's style to counter all of her attacks, she countered mine as well but couldn't land a hit, so we were stuck in a draw.
But what if I did something completely different from Sylpha's style.