28. Progress

A bright and massive magic circle surrounded the skies above the village of elves. The residents who had gathered together to congratulate their leader on his wedding glanced upwards, wondering what sort of weird phenomenon was taking place. The magic power in the circle resembled that of the human prince.

Another magic circle appeared on top of the one prior to it cutting off the access of mana. The elves present there couldn't access mana or use their grimoires anymore.

"Brother?" Tetia muttered, grasping the hand of her husband tightly. Even if the mana signature felt similar to her brother she felt something off about it. She put her other hand on her belly in a protective manner.

Before anyone had any chance to react or assess the situation, arrows of light began showering from the massive magic circle. It started knocking down the elves one by one without any regard to whether they were men, women or children. No one was spared from the indiscriminate barrage of arrows. The garden where the ceremony was being held caught fire and showed no signs of stopping.

Licht was about to step up and prevent this from happening when one arrow struck his back and the next one struck Tetia.

"Tetia!!" Not caring about his own injury, Licht rushed to his wife's aid. He knew next to nothing about Healing Magic and could helplessly watch as his wife's life, his unborn child's life and the life of his tribesmen be snatched right in front of his eyes.

What's the point of having a four-leaf grimoire when he can't even save the lives of those he cherishes? Why did everyone choose someone as incompetent as him as the leader of their tribe? Did his best friend really betray him? Did Lumiere use his own sister for this purpose?

He found it difficult to believe but somewhere in his heart, doubt on his friendship started to form as his village continued to burn down to ashes. His empty eyes stared at the corpses of his tribesmen. His ancestors must be disappointed in him for trusting a human. His grimoire floated in front of him and a devious black aura started to envelop the book. Similar black aura covered his left eye.

"Licht! Tetia!" The worried voice of Lumiere rang through his ears, prompting the leader of elves to gaze upwards where he saw his friend and his assistant descending on the ground.

"So you came, Lumiere." One look on the human's face and Licht realized that he had nothing to do with it. The sinister presence that he could faintly feel near to himself, confirmed his suspicions. "I am sorry to have doubted our friendship."

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Licht Eralith's POV

'To think I would be having that dream again.' Rubbing my eyes and suppressing a yawn, I got from the lavish and comfortable bed, walking up to the windows. The conversation with Mordain was still fresh in my mind. The fact that this continent would soon be engulfed in the flames of war has got me immensely worried.

There were a mountain of things that needed to be done. Firstly, there is the need to unite the continent for us to stand a chance in the war. Secondly, collect the necessary information that will bring forth the proof that Dicathen isn't the only continent that exists. There are more. Mordain had refused to make audience with any of the three races because if he were to do that the Asuras want to keep their secrets buried would catch the wind of him and might try and eliminate him and anyone else that knows of

'And I am not at the level to protect them all.' I clenched my fists, getting reminded of my own weakness. His words before I headed back to the palace still revolved in my head.

"Sometimes it is better to 'unshackle' oneself before the worst comes to pass."

Can the Diviners or Seers be any less cryptic than that? I am well aware that Mordain is trying to help me here and this message is simply him testing me out. But a few more hints won't do any harm. He also added that in order for me to learn the Phoenix race's signature Creation Arts, I would need to have an 'understanding' or better put 'insight' of Creation Magic which will be different from the magic of the same name in my previous world.

The Creation Magic that I know of allowed its users to shape various entities from creatures to objects. The types or shapes of entities could be limitless, making it the most versatile magic that every mage could use for numerous purposes. Aside from a person's vivid imagination that was one of the key factors for the usage of Creation Magic, spells were of great importance. Without the correct spells, one cannot create what they wish to create with their magic.

'Spells..'

Spells were simply incantations of magic which were utilized to power up a person's magical attacks to a greater degree when used without the incantation. Grimoires that were the property of every mage were used to house these spells. A mage with huge amounts of mana can be said to be powerful enough but a mage with their grimoire and mastery over their attribute and numerous spells at their disposal was considered even more stronger.

'But what's insight supposed to mean?' With my mind preoccupied with these thoughts I stepped outside my room only to see Tess running down the hallways.

"Slow down Tess or you might fall on your face." I reminded.

"Morning brother!" She greeted, skidding to a halt. Her eyes were gleaming with excitement. "Do you know what happened yesterday?"

"You and Arthur went on a date?" I remarked. Her face quickly heated up with embarrassment and she pinched my side.

"W-Who said it was a date!? I w-was j-just showing Art--Arthur around the kingdom." Tess stuttered and increased the strength behind her pinching.

"Hey! I feel pain too, you know!" Prying her hands off, I picked her up in my arms, only for her cheeks and ears to redden even further.

"Brother!! Put me down! I am a big girl now!" She protested. "I Can Walk On My Own."

"Not happening." I denied before walking down the hallways towards Arthur's room. "So how was your date?"

"I told you it was not a date! What gave you that idea?!" Tess responded.

"Got anyone to blame then blame our dear old grandpa." I shrugged. "After I returned from Grandma's I asked for your whereabouts only for him to reply that you two went on a date."

"I am going to pull his beard." Tess grumbled in response, before quickly shifting the topic back to yesterday's events. "...And then Feyrith picked a fight with Arthur."

"Really?" It didn't come off as a surprise to me. Like mother and father had problems initially, the citizens of the kingdom too would have problems accepting a human staying over in the Kingdom and that too in the Royal Palace.

Even if Arthur is Grandfather's disciple, a man who is respected all over the kingdom, in the end his disciple is still a human child. "So what happened after that?"

"He requested for a duel which Art had no choice but to accept. The duel ended in a flash though." Tess replied. "Arthur just zoomed ahead and landed a punch on his face. And then we just made a run for it."

'So on your first day, you punched a child of noble lineage.' I wondered how Feyrith would be taking this on. I know his family and they aren't the type to hold grudges. The family head Felix Ivsaar holds an important position in the court and has respect for both father and grandfather. Knowing him he would never question their decisions.

Feyrith on the other hand was known to be rather competitive so I was a little worried about the years to come. Reminds me of how Lufulu used to pick fights with almost everyone just to see who was stronger.

"What's today's agenda then?" Reaching Arthur's room, I put her down before knocking on the door.

"Grandpa said that we are starting training today." Tess responded before pushing the doors open. "Also it will take a lot more than that in order to wake him up."

"Huh?" Curiosity got the better of me and I stepped in to see what she meant by that. Inside, Arthur slept soundly, not even realizing that he had guests in his room. He seems to be a deep sleeper.

With him sleeping like a log, I wondered how Tess was going to wake him up but my questions were answered soon enough..

Climbing onto the bed, Tess stretched her arms before slamming down on Arthur. The latter woke up with a jolt, looking around as if to see who attacked before his azure eyes landed on Tess who was laughing like no tomorrow.

'That gotta hurt..'

"Can you not find a less brutal method to wake me up?" Arthur complained, clutching his torso in pain.

"Is there any other way to wake you up then?" Tess retorted. "You are such a deep sleeper hence I need to resort to these methods."

"Seriously, what are you teaching her?" Taking note of my presence, he pointed at Tess.

"I will be honest, I did not teach her that." I shook my head.

"Come on Art." Tess pulled away the blanket from Arthur, earning a grunt from the latter who was trying to get back to sleep. "Hurry up or we will be late for training."

"I will be taking my leave here. Also I wish you best of luck during grandpa's training sessions." Content with the horrified look on both their faces, I made my exit from the room leaving the two of them to their devices.

'Now then..'

Taking out my broom from the Dimensional Ring, I jumped out through the nearest window.

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Later that day..

Near the bordering area of Grand Mountains and Winetail River

The sword in my hand shattered into pieces, unable to take too much of my mana output in the Mana Skin Stage Two phase.

This phase was different from the usual Mana Skin where instead of a thin layer of mana coating the user, a thick layer of mana coats the user, pushing their physical capabilities to their utmost limit. In that stage, the user has control over both their output and the surrounding mana around them which enables them to conceal their presence and mana signature, making them unable to be detected by their foes. Since it also pushes the physical capabilities of the user, one can utilize their superior speed to overwhelm their opponents.

(A/N - Just like how Licht toyed with Asta and Yuno back then. It was pretty satisfying imo.)

Dissipating the layer of mana around myself, I sat down at one of the craters I formed with my own attacks. Right now at my Light Yellow stage, I can keep this up for more than thirty minutes and with the constant absorption of mana from the atmosphere I don't have to worry about depletion of my reserves. In this stage it is important to be constantly absorbing mana from the surroundings in order to conceal one's mana signature.

'These swords aren't able to handle too much of mana output.' I glanced behind at the four shattered swords fallen on the ground. I had crafted them with my own hands but after advancing to Light Yellow, these swords simply cannot keep up if I try to fight like how I used to.

"This secluded training place is faring better than these humps of metal." I glanced around my surroundings.

Craters and a few fallen trees decorated the area, showing the intensity of my training. I had stumbled upon this place while searching for a quiet and undisturbed place to train and polish my techniques. There were no inhabitants nearby and this was on the other side of Winetail River and at the base of Grand Mountains where no one ventures in.

"Now for elemental techniques." Dusting myself off, I stood up and formed a javelin of water in my hand when I remembered a very important detail. Since morning my mind was filled with spells, insight and creation that this thought had completely slipped my mind. "Why haven't I tried that out yet?"

Dissolving the water javelin, I concentrated mana in my right arm after stretching it upward. Golden runic letters started forming in a circular pattern around my arm. Two layers of the runic letters formed around my arm before a swirl of water formed on my palms. It seemed as if I held a small turbulent storm of water in my palm.

A sea dragon's head with sharp teeth manifested before firing off towards the skies followed by a huge torrent of water, a huge roar being let out in its wake. To think this method would succeed at the first attempt. As I proceeded to retract the spell, I noticed a silhouette of a person zooming straight for the dragon's face.

Unsheathing the sword the person had in their possession, they held it high before a tornado of wind collected around the blade. They thrust their wind infused blade into the dragon's jaws in an attempt to counter my spell. Both the spells were equally matched and neither of us seemed to give in.

In order to end the stalemate, I changed the direction of the attack to the sides before canceling it out. The other mage made a graceful landing before taking a look around the area while I took note of the fact that he too was an elf, his pointed ears being a straight giveaway.

He appeared to be a little older than father with well-combed deep black hair and deep onyx eyes. He observed me for a few moments before speaking up.

"You wouldn't mind me taking a little bit of your time, would you Prince Licht?"