《Soul Augmentation》 Chapter 1 Soul shard (prologue) Spoiler: Spoiler The first chapter is bit of an info dump. I''m sorry about that but I need to do this so there will be less confusion later on. I also don''t want to constantly disrupt my story to explain something. I hope you enjoy! I¡¯m limping through the empty streets. it''s already past midnight, a time where everybody is sleeping at home. Home a warm place to be together with your family. I sigh¡­ Home is not a warm place for me. I am the eldest son of a noble family. You would think that by being the heir I would have a fantastic life, everyone doting on me and trying to give me a favourable impression. No such thing. I¡¯m too weak, a failure. You see everybody of the Western-Continent follows a certain system to gain power; Soul augmentation. This system, cultivation method or whatever you want to call it allows you to gain power beyond imagination. If you are lucky. When children become 10 years old they will go to mana rich places. In such a place they will use meditation techniques which stems from the ages past. Everyone knows how to do it because it¡¯s very easy to perform. These children will imagine their soul absorbing mana. After doing this for a few hours they will be able to start feeling their soul and when that happens they will cut of a tiny part of their soul by using the absorbed mana. This tiny soul shard will then get fed with mana from the environment. Since this cut of part is still your soul you will be able to keep a certain connection with it. Nobody ever failed at this process. I didn¡¯t fail either. There is however one big problem. The power of this soul shard will be variable. What happens is that this soul shard will absorb the mana for a few hours and then evolve into its initial form.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. There are many forms for soul shards. The two general forms are object shards or beast shards. The strongest form is however a warrior shard. Warrior shards are the combination of both beast an object. To give an example would be a Werewolf warrior. This werewolf will be equipped with armor and weapons and is the combination of a werewolf shard, armor shard and weapon shard. Warrior shards are rare and only 10% of all the nobles manage to acquire one. However having a warrior shard still doesn¡¯t make you special. What truly makes someone powerful is Shard fusion. That means you can fuse with your soul shard and change yourself into that werewolf warrior. Not only does that give your power output a huge boost, but it¡¯s also much more efficient than having to use raw mana infusion to materialize your soul shard as some kind of familiar. By fusing you only need to use 1% of the mana output someone else, that can¡¯t fuse, needs to materialize their soul shard. The good thing is around 80% of all people can fuse with their shards. Now you should understand why I¡¯m limping back to the dorms and why I¡¯m not allowed to go home if I don¡¯t ask for special permission. I can¡¯t fuse. When you cannot fuse you are useless. But that¡¯s not the only thing, if I had a warrior shard I would still have been seen as an asset in war with short burst but high damage potential. I stumble and fall face first into the ground. Tears start forming in my eyes. I try to hold it back, but I can¡¯t. ¡®WHY!?¡¯, I scream, ¡®WHY DO I HAVE SUCH A TRASH SOUL SHARD¡¯. In my hysterical anger I accidently pour mana in my shard. A somewhat ethereal slime materializes before me. This only makes me even more angry. I scream, I scream myself hoarse, I scream until I faint in the dirt and I let the sweet embrace of darkness take me. Chapter 2 Sieg alma鈥檚 experiment I wake up, still lying in the dirt. I heave a sigh in frustration. ¡®I really need to stop having these childish outbursts¡¯ I mumble, ¡®even if my own family doesn¡¯t see me as a noble, that doesn¡¯t mean I need to stop acting like one¡¯. I try to stand up and feel a burst of pain going through my knee. ¡®ugh, dammit!¡¯, I hiss in pain. That trashing they gave me yesterday was especially vicious. They beat me up because I had another one of those childish outbursts. They were taunting me. They yelled things like, ¡®ew, what a pervert, having such a gross slime as soul shard¡¯ and ¡®yeah why is he in our Elite Soul School, he probably just wants to harass beautiful girls like us with his disgusting slime¡¯. Normally I would just pretend I didn¡¯t hear anything, but one of my experiments I had been doing failed. I couldn¡¯t keep my anger in after the irritation of failing my experiment and slapped the girl in the face. She didn¡¯t expect that to happen and before she could retaliate I had slapped her into the ground. I train my body every single day, it¡¯s the only offensive weapon I have. Her boyfriend of course retaliated. While stomping me and crushing my arms and legs he said while laughing ¡®Why does a handicapped piece of shit like you think you can touch what¡¯s mine? I¡¯ll take both your arms so you can¡¯t do that again. Nobody will even care if I do that. The school will not go through the hassle of punishing someone of the royal clan for injuring a piece of trash like you!¡¯ He materialized and fused with his Warrior shard. He grew in size, I could hear his bones popping and cracking, his flesh stretching and metal bending. A truly massive Draconian warrior stood over me. He stood 4 meters tall wearing silver armor with spikes on his back, he was holding a sword that was 2 meters large and then he looked down at me. His slit pupils and amber irises glared at me with a vicious glint. His dragon aura pressured me, rendering me unable to move. But before he could bring down his sword a girl that was walking up to us yelled ¡®stop! What do you think you are doing to student Sieg Alma? George Maxad unfuse now!¡¯ George turned himself around to see who was so insolent to yell at someone of royal blood. He trembled and immediately released his shard form. ¡®princess, ahaha¡¯ he was laughing nervously, ¡®I was just playing around, I didn¡¯t mean any harm. Right Sieg it was just a game right?¡¯. I sighed and said ¡®princess Almina Xerxes, what he said is true. We were just playing around¡¯. I smiled wryly, the princess always butts in when I¡¯m in trouble. We are friends I think, I¡¯m not really sure either. We just interact a lot because I always get bullied and Almina is part of the student council that tries to prevent such things from happening in our ESS (elite soul school). Almina sighed and shooed George away. She said to her maid ¡®Melia will you take him to the infirmary and patch him up?¡¯, she then turned to me and said, ¡® I can¡¯t do anything for you if you don¡¯t say anything.¡¯ She sighed again and walked away her slender figure and sparkling white hair accentuated by the setting sun. Melia walked up to me and laughed with a wry smile. ¡®Why do you always pick out the strongest of the school to fall out against? It¡¯s not really a smart thing to do.¡¯ [you know how bad my temper sometime can be.] ¡®Did your experiment fail?¡¯ [yeah¡­] ¡®you should stop that experiment, I know how smart you are and how stubborn you can be. But you are only 18 years old! Messing around with your soul is not a good idea. You don¡¯t know what will happen if your experiment not only fails but also creates unwanted consequences!¡¯ She started tending to my wounds. She seems to be worried about me. It feels nice seeing someone worrying about trash like me. It feels even better that the person worrying about me is a beautiful girl in a maid dress. Her hourglass figure, dark brown eyes and brown hair with a reddish tint really forms an enchanting combination. Honestly if she wouldn¡¯t be wearing a maid uniform I would have thought that she was the princess. Definitely not someone I can reach if my experiments keep failing.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. [you know I can¡¯t stop, I believe that I can make this trash soul shard into something more powerful.] She looks up at me with a worried expression and sighs. ¡®Just don¡¯t die okay, or I -, or the princess would be really sad.¡¯ ****present**** I walk into my private laboratory. All the money that I got from my parents before they cast me out was used to buy this. Books are strewn all over the floor. Slimes without cores and slimes with cores are kept in sealed pots. The difference between the two is that the one with the core can use mana to perform magic. My soul shard slime also has a core. I held the hope that I would still be able to train to become a magician, because my slime shard had a core and could serve as catalyst for casting spells. Everyone who has a soul shard that holds magical properties can become a wizard. By storing mana in your heart and soul shard you can train to become a magician. When I tried doing that I almost died from a heart attack. I don¡¯t have the right constitution in my heart and cannot store mana there. If I had been able to become a magician I could have used spells to become really powerful. But only 0.01% of all people will be blessed with a heart that can store mana. I still tried though and suffered the consequences. But it gave me an idea, an idea for an experiment so insane and deadly no one would ever try it. I would use a slime with a core, wipe out its soul, wipe out the will residing in its flesh and wipe out the ambient mana residing in its core. I will then take this blank slate of flesh and core to fuse it forcibly with my body. I will shove the core in my heart and use golem transmutation to mix the core and my heart with each other, then imprint it with the will of my body. The core will then be fused to my heart and allow me to store mana. I will use the flesh of the slime and create the magic pathways that only the most gifted of magicians have. I will once again use golem transmutation on my whole body and forge the pathways by fusing the mana conducting slime flesh and mana conducting mythril with my very own flesh. These pathways will then connect with the core in my heart. The final step will be bringing my slime soul into the core and stretch the flesh of the soul over all the pathways. Then I need to use materialization and materialize the soul shard, allowing it to bind with the blank slate core and pathways so it will be activated. People use magical soul shards as a catalyst to perform magic. I will fuse my soul shard with the core in my heart. The catalyst will be directly fused with the mana container. It should give me the ability to instantly cast body augmentation magic. It should¡­ But honestly I¡¯m not even sure if I will be able to survive the experiment. So many failures in different processes. Even if I survive will I still be human? Will my theory be correct? Will fusing my soul shard with its physical counterpart be able to bypass the mana-activation cost of a soul shard? My theory states that if I infuse a real slime with a core with my soul shard slime it should make a real core based slime, but with my soul in it. But that would not be enough, slimes are not strong. So I added mythril to the mix to make it more sturdy and decided to plant the whole thing inside of my body so that I would be able to use magic. Later on I decided to even add dragon blood essence to the mix so I can make my body sturdier during the operation in the hope that the strengthening of my body will help me survive the process. Everyone who has tried consuming or fusing with dragon blood has failed. The best case scenario was death, worst case scenario is losing your mind and transforming in a pulsating mess of flesh and bones. I become scared. I tremble. Tears start to form in my eyes. I don¡¯t want to die. The pain will be terrible regardless if the experiment fails or not. But then I feel a sting of pain in my legs and anger starts to surface, my parents who looked disdainfully at me, my expulsion from the family, the meager amount of money I receive each month, the servants in the house who laugh behind my back and worst of all the stares filled with pity. ¡®I don¡¯t need your PITY!¡¯, I growl while my face contorts in the expression of a mad beast. ¡®No more waiting! No more experiments! It¡¯s now or never! I¡¯m fucking done with being trash! I¡¯m fucking done with their contempt! I¡¯m fucking done with your FUCKING PITY!¡¯ I take all the materials and all the scrolls with the spells I need inscribed upon them. I lay myself down on the operating table. I take the runic tablet that has the whole operation process inscribed upon it. When I insert the tablet in the machine a mechanical voice says, ¡®OPERATION¡­START¡­IN¡­30¡­29¡­28¡­¡¯ I strap myself in on the table. The cuffs automatically close. There is no sedative. I need to be conscious to guide my soul shard into the core so that my soul shard can fuse with the real slime core. ¡®3¡¯ I grit my teeth and start regretting my impulsiveness. ¡®2¡¯ I was too impulsive. What if I was wrong?! NO, I SHOULD STOP THIS I¡¯M NOT READY!!!!! ¡®1¡¯ FUCK I¡¯M TOO LATE! ¡®0¡¯ I can only pray now that my last prediction was right and stay conscious¡­ ¡®COMMENCE.OPERATION¡¯ A blade rips my chest open and two claws bent my ribs to open up my chest. *CRACK* My ribcage breaks and I scream in pain, I scream like I never have done before in my life. Chapter 3 How it feels to chew 5 gum The pain of having your whole ribcage getting broken open is something I have never felt before. Even the culmination of all the pain I suffered from getting beat up doesn¡¯t even come close to what I¡¯m feeling right now. I¡¯m seeing stars. White flashes pop up in my vision. ¡®don¡¯t give up¡¯, I mumble to myself The mechanical arms of the operation machine start doing their work. It injects me with chemicals and magical potions to stop me from bleeding. Stimulants get injected to keep me conscious and make my mind clear. The problem is that the more conscious and clear headed I am the more pain I start feeling. ¡®Blerhg!¡¯ I vomit to the side because of the rising pain. I haven¡¯t eaten in days but I somehow am still able to vomit. It¡¯s a miracle. All kinds of strange thoughts bounce around in my head. I start hallucinating from the extreme pain that wants to knock me out and the magic potions that keep me awake. Colors start changing. The whole room becomes red, then green, then pink,¡­ The blank core of a slime is getting lowered in my chest. I try to focus and keep my connection with my soul shard. I must be ready to fuse at any moment. Magic circles start forming around my heart and core. The golem transmutation that will mix this core with my heart is starting up. I grit my teeth and prepare myself for the pain, but instead of pain a cooling sensation starts spreading from my heart. It seems to even alleviate some of my agony. ¡®haah¡¯, I sigh in relief. It seems that creating a heart, that can store mana, doesn¡¯t hurt that much. I keep track of the process. The light of the transmutation becomes brighter and brighter. There is a sudden flash of light. ¡®urgh! Fuck, that stings!¡¯, I grumble. The moment that the transmutation completes itself, I feel a small sting going through my heart and it fuses with the core. I look down at my opened chest and resist vomiting at the bloody sight. I can see my heart beating. The difference is now that on top of my heart is a blue gemstone that was the core of a slime. I concentrate. I guide the ethereal version of my slime soul shard into the core. I keep it at the ready to materialize. Now comes the more painful part. The machine will now send small drills into my body to create the pathways through which my mana will flow. Small tendrils lower themselves in my chest. *VIIIIIIIIIIII* Have you ever been to a dentist and had to get your teeth drilled? Well, that¡¯s what those small drills sound like. ¡®Not exactly a comforting sound¡¯, I mumble while trying to keep my body as still as possible. Then they plunge in to my flesh. The pain is terrible, but I still think of myself as lucky that a magic driven machine is doing it for me and that I don¡¯t have to do it myself. They work fast and the pathways in my flesh start opening up at breakneck speed. A white mist is injected in the pathways to prevent them from collapsing. This white mist is raw and pure mana, it corrodes the flesh it comes in contact with, it¡¯s too pure for my body to handle. However there is no other way to do it without otherwise spreading impurities through my body. The pathways are now finished but I don¡¯t dare to relax yet. First comes a cooling sensation. The flesh of a slime is getting injected in my pathways. I grit my teeth and prepare myself for the next sensation to come. Thousands of needles lower themselves on my body. I can see the dragon essence blood bubbling in the tubes connected to it. But that is not what is putting me on edge. I look to my left and see the other tubes that will inject something in my pathways. I see glowing molten metal, mythril. 1500¡ãc. Even though I will be using an isolation spell to keep it isolated from my flesh and prevent from burning the already injected slime flesh, it will still be painful. After all, during the fusion between my flesh, the slime flesh and this mythril I will have to stop the isolation spell. Then it will start to hurt. I hope that the dragon blood will be able to keep my body together and prevent it from imploding.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. I smile wryly and say with a hoarse voice, ¡®Start fase 2!¡¯ The injection of both the mythril in my pathways and the dragon blood in my muscles and bones begins. I start to feel a tingling sensation from the dragon blood entering my muscles and bones. At first it feels rather good but the tingling changes really fast to burning pain. The isolation spell is released at the same time. The molten mythril comes in contact with my flesh. The fusion and transmutation starts immediately, but it doesn¡¯t prevent the pain of getting my flesh burnt. My body is starting to go in shock with my internal damage building up. Needles with cocktails of healing potions and mind potions keep my head clear and stop the damage in my body from getting any worse. The pain from the dragon blood entering my body seems to go away. The dragon blood that tried to gain dominance over my body seems to help with repairing the damage. By doing this the dragon blood gets absorbed into my blood, cells and bone marrow. I can only hope that my calculations are right and that my body suffered enough damage to absorb all the dragon essence. Another golem transmutation scroll gets activated and helps the dragon blood fusing with my body. I pray that this makes my body sturdy enough to survive the following process. The fusion of pathways and dragons blood is completed, but my pathways feel stiff and don¡¯t seem to belong in my body. Now with all the stimulant drugs getting injected in my body and having my mind clear, I start stretching the ethereal flesh of my slime soul over the pathways while keeping its core in the real core inside my heart. A new golem transmutation scroll starts lighting up. This is a tier 2 scroll not a tier 1 like the others I used and is much more powerful. I hear the tinkling sound of mana crystals breaking. They are breaking because of mana exhaustion at a constant pace. I materialize my spirit inside the pathways and core. Materializing something in a solid should make that solid explode, but because the golem transmutation scroll is already fusing the materialized soul shard with the solid pathways and core in my body, the only thing that happens is that my pathways swell up on the verge of exploding. I hope the fusion speed of the two surpasses the speed of the breakdown of the outer solid layer. My body starts swelling up like a balloon. Blood rises up my throat. I cough up some blood and curse with a small voice, ¡®dammit! Please let this work!¡¯ Then the fusion speed overtakes the speed of my body blowing up and I rapidly deflate. The fusion is successful, but I don¡¯t dare to feel happy yet. The backlash from using all those high grade mind and healing potions, the raw mana infusion and the fusion of flesh and metal starts now. My body is normally way too weak to even receive the backlash from one such mind potion and I should already be dead. The only thing I can hope for is that there will be enough mana crystals to heal me with the healing spell scroll. The dragon blood also made my body a lot sturdier and also gave it a faster regeneration speed so I should be okay. I think¡­ Blood starts suddenly pouring out of my skin, blood tears come out of my eyes and I vomit some blood. I start shaking uncontrollably. ¡®shit, my body starts going into shock again!¡¯ The mind potion starts wearing of and my consciousness becomes more blurred. I see black around the edges of my sight. ¡®I can only pray that they didn¡¯t scam me on that healing scroll.¡¯, I mumble in a slurred voice before going unconscious. Chapter 4 Hangover ¡®Ugh, my head¡¯, I groan in pain, ¡®I don¡¯t remember drinking last night?¡¯ I feel confused. Why am I laying down on the operation table? Why is there the taste of vomit and blood in my mouth? I sit up and look around. The laboratory is even more of a mess then it was before. I start to remember last night. ¡®Yes! That¡¯s it, I did the experiment on my own body last night! No wonder I feel like shit.¡¯, I chuckle. I haven¡¯t felt so happy in a long time. I don¡¯t even know if it was a success, I¡¯m just happy to be alive. ¡®I really need to stop being so impulsive.¡¯, I sigh, ¡®Why can¡¯t I for once think about the consequences of doing things without thinking? I have a high IQ, so why don¡¯t I freaking use it?¡¯ I look to the side at the clock to see what time it is. It¡¯s already 9 o¡¯clock in the morning. The lessons will be starting at 10 o¡¯clock. ¡®shit!¡¯, I curse under my breath, ¡®I can¡¯t afford being late again!¡¯ I always stayed in my laboratory doing tests and researching slimes during the year. I missed a lot of lessons because of that. If I don¡¯t attend all the lessons from now on I will be thrown out of the academy. I can¡¯t let that happen, all my research went into slimes and I never have had the time to learn spells, zoology or botany. Those things are all important assets for improving your own strength and survivability in the wild. If you don¡¯t know what you can eat or which powers the beasts in the forest have, you will certainly die within a week. ¡®Damn it, I should have set my alarm! How can I be so fucking stupid! I invent a way to bypass the weakness of my soul shard but I don¡¯t know how to set an alarm?! Really what the fuck is wrong with me sometimes!¡¯, I curse while my short fuse is rearing its ugly head again. I search for some fresh clothing and rush into the shower. I will be testing later if my experiment failed or not. Though I can already feel that I¡¯m a lot stronger. My steps while walking are firmer, I move faster, I don¡¯t feel out of breath, but most of all I can feel a powerful stream of mana flowing through my pathways I created. I can feel a powerful heartbeat that with each beat allows me to absorb mana from the air and then pumps the absorbed mana through my pathways. ¡®This is it, this is the feeling I wanted.¡¯, I mumble while walking out of the shower. I look up in to the mirror to check how bad the scarring is on my chest and other parts of my body. I freeze. There are no scars from the experiment, just flawless and slightly tanned skin. But that is not why I froze up. There are black lines all over my body forming intricate tattoo like drawings on my skin. ¡®dammit¡¯, I curse, ¡®I didn¡¯t expect the pathways to print through in a black color. Slimes are not black are they? Mythril is silver in color so it can¡¯t be that either.¡¯ I think and then remember a small paragraph I have read in one of my books about slimes. It talked about a slime that had lived for thousands of years in a mine and had absorbed the essence of mythril. The slime became black in color and could manipulate mana as easy as breathing. The adventurers found it almost impossible to kill.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Not only was the slime extremely hard but it was also impervious to both magical and physical attacks. Normally, killing slimes is done with magic attacks because all slimes are impervious to the physical ones. This slime however managed to become immune to both. That was however not the only problem the adventurers were having, the spikes that the slime could form and shoot at them were exceptionally hard and sharp making the slime also a deadly predator. They eventually killed it by heating up the whole cave system it resided in and let the slime slowly evaporate to its death. But how did my slime evolve into a mythril slime when it didn¡¯t have thousands of years? It should have just formed an amalgam of slime and mythril? Did the dragons blood and abundance of mana promote its evolution during its fusion process with mythril? I don¡¯t know the answer to these questions, but what does it matter anyway? It means I will be able to channel my mana even faster than previously anticipated. Maybe I will even take reduced magic damage with this whole network of mana conducting mythril slime protecting my body! I look up with a stupid grin in the mirror only to freeze up again. Again you say? Yes again. ¡®What the actual fuck?¡¯, I sigh with a forlorn expression. I did expect the same black lines on my face but can someone explain why my beautiful black hair has turned into this blindingly bright white hair? And why, for god¡¯s sake, why do I have slit pupils and golden irises? Can someone please explain this to me? ¡®Since when did I awaken to a dragonic blood line?¡¯, I sigh in prospect of all the trouble that is about to come. You see the royal family also has a dragonic bloodline, giving them unprecedented power. This bloodline ascertains them of having a dragon based soul shard and to always be able to fuse with it. It gives them massive talent at magic and a strong physique to support it. How they fuse with the blood essence of a dragon is however a tightly kept secret. That is why no one else ever succeeded in fusing with such a bloodline. ¡®I¡¯m in some massive shit now¡­¡¯, I sigh with a now slightly despairing expression. ¡®Why do I have to go to school today? I can¡¯t paint my hair black and don¡¯t have the time to do something to my eyes.¡¯, I try to resign myself to my fate. The reason why I can¡¯t paint my hair black or wear colored lenses to hide my eyes is because the dragon aura I¡¯m emitting right now would immediately corrode those things away. Clothes are fine because they are a lot sturdier. But fine and delicate things such as lenses or hair paint will just get eroded away in seconds. I don¡¯t have the time to find a suitable countermeasure, so I just take a piece of cloth that I can see through and place it on my head in front of my eyes. I don¡¯t have time for hiding my new tattoo¡¯s or white hair. I rush out of my laboratory onto the street. I run as if my life depends on it, which it actually does because if I¡¯m not on time today I will have no easy way to gain knowledge anymore. While running I start thinking about my dragonic bloodline. I remember that it even seeped into my bone marrow and changed it. That means my bloodline will grow stronger with time. ¡®Wait¡¯, I mumble, ¡®doesn¡¯t that mean that my dragon aura will someday become so strong it will also corrode my clothes away? Will I not be labeled as a pervert for having to run around naked? I didn¡¯t sign up for this! I wanted power and freedom not nudity, there is a big difference between the two!¡¯ I try not to think too much about my bleak future of nudity. I can only hope that I can find a way to restrain this aura a little bit. I arrive at my class within the time limit. Luckily my upgraded body allowed me to run faster or I would have been too late. I walk inside an sit myself down on my usual spot. The chattering of all the students suddenly dies down and I feel them all gazing at me. ¡®It seems that my senses also increased in power, I usually wouldn¡¯t be able to feel it if people looked at me or not.¡¯, I think, ¡®but why are they all looking at me? There are even treants, which are literally walking trees, following lessons here. I do look a bit strange, but it¡¯s not that bad right?¡¯ I look up only to see the princess standing in front of me. She looks straight at my covered eyes. Her slit eyes glow in a terrifying red. ¡®Take of that bandage.¡¯ She orders me in an ice cold voice. Shit. Chapter 5 Pop quiz ¡®Take off that bandage.¡¯ The princess ordered me in an ice cold voice. Shit. How did she know? My hair is white but there are enough other races that have white hair as a characteristic. What should I do? Will they kill me to prevent the knowledge of fusing with a dragonic bloodline from spreading? I personally don¡¯t even understand how I could have fused with such a bloodline. It should have only been consumed by my body as a resource to strengthen itself. Could it have been the slime that resides in my body that did this? Considering it consumed the mythril and evolved into a mythril slime, it might be possible. Did it consume a bit of the dragon essence blood and plant it as a bloodline inside my body? Did it strengthen the bloodline and imprint it with my will so that the marrow of my bones could absorb and fuse with it? So many questions. It should make for a good research subject. ¡®Hey, I told you to take of that bandage. How long are you going to make me wait?¡¯, says the princess with an impatient expression. Right shit, she is still here. ¡®Why should I do that? It¡¯s not nice of you to ask me to reveal things I don¡¯t want to.¡¯, I try to say with a firm voice, hoping that she somehow would give in and leave me alone. ¡®I think you and me both know why I want you to take of that bandage.¡¯, she says unyieldingly. ¡®Also that voice, I recognize it from somewhere¡­ What is your name?¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s Sieg Alma princess¡¯, I say with a sigh, ¡®could we go somewhere else after the lessons are over? I will explain everything to you in private, but I really can¡¯t afford missing another lesson. I hope you can understand that.¡¯ ¡®Sieg?! You did the experiment already? You said it wasn¡¯t ready yet the last time we spoke! What were you thinking?¡¯, Melia the maid of the princess says with a concerned expression. ¡®Are you alright?¡¯ ¡®Yes, I have never felt so good before.¡¯, I say with a smile while trying to reassure her. The princess sighs and says in a somewhat quieter voice, ¡®Fine meet me at 4:00 pm at the royal dorms.¡¯ ¡®okay¡¯, I mumble with a somewhat hesitant tone. While they walk away I hear the princess asking Melia what the experiment was about. I feel relieved. I¡¯m happy that the princess respected my privacy, but I¡¯m even more happy that my short fuse decided to not show itself today. It would be bad to have a fall out with the princess in this kind of situation. While I¡¯m reveling in my luck of not getting unreasonably angry, I start to hear whispers. Which proves that my hearing also improved with leaps and bounds. (is that really Sieg?) ¡®what happened to him, he looks completely different?¡¯ {Why is he wearing a bandage in front of his eyes?} [White hair and a bandage in front of his eyes, he wouldn¡¯t have acquired that bloodline now would he?] ¡®nah that¡¯s impossible, nobody can fuse with something that volatile and incorporate it in its bloodline.¡¯ {Some people use it to strengthen their bodies!} ¡®yeah but it¡¯s too dangerous to incorporate it to eventually create a draconic bloodline.¡¯ [Why do you think the princess would be so angry then? I think he somehow managed to create a dragonic bloodline.] ¡®you think to highly of him, he I just trash with a trash soul shard.¡¯If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. [Soul shards have nothing to do with someone¡¯s intellect.] ¡®Seems that there is one smart person here¡¯, I mumble under my breath. Ugh, I did expect trouble to come for me, but not so soon dammit! Then I hear footsteps coming from the hall. ¡®Seems that the teacher is already here¡¯, I think, ¡®she seems to be quite early, it¡¯s still not 10 o¡¯clock.¡¯ ¡®okay, everyone sit down and shut the fuck up!,¡¯ says the teacher while entering the room. Our teacher stands 10 feet tall. She is of the titan race. They have gigantism as an inherent trait, which allows them to have insane physical strength and a though body. Naturally they aren¡¯t really all that well versed in long range combat, but their body strengthening techniques are top notch. Even though she isn¡¯t giving any lessons pertaining to this subject, that does not mean that I can¡¯t ask questions about it after the lessons are done. ¡®We will be having a pop quiz today!¡¯, she says while grinning, ¡®I hope you all prepared yourself well!¡¯ No. No, you¡¯ve got to be kidding me right? Why is everything that can go wrong, going wrong today? Is this divine retribution for messing around with my soul shard, that¡¯s got to be it right? ¡®The pop quiz will be about all the different countries and continents! Good luck.¡¯, she says. She looks at me and says, ¡®Sieg, I know that you had your troubles this year, but you will still have to make the pop quiz. Don¡¯t worry the score of this test will not have a large influence over your total score of the year. You¡¯re a smart boy so I expect you to work your hardest for the rest of the year!¡¯ ¡®Ah, she is like a ten feet tall angel¡¯, I think and then say with some more fervor, ¡®yes Miss Lazula, I will do my best!¡¯, while wondering how she recognized me. ¡®hmpf, I would expect no less¡¯, she says with a snort, ¡®Okay everyone can begin now!¡¯ She seems to be happy being called miss, most people just address her with madam. ¡®Extra points for me¡¯, I think while trying to suppress a grin from forming on my face. I look down at the test that appeared out of thin air. It¡¯s a big map of our continent, the western continent. I can see the different kingdoms and seas surrounding our continent. I thought it would be difficult for me to name everything. While I did not know the names of the royal houses and the names of their kings and crown princes. I did know the countries and their capitals. By reading all those books about slimes and where their breeding grounds are, I already familiarized myself with the names of the big cities and countries of this continent. See the map here: I knew there was also an Eastern continental mass, but I didn¡¯t expect it to be so huge. It seems however that for the test we don¡¯t need to know the smaller kingdoms or the ones of the eastern continent. Titans, treants, Beastmen and many other races each have their own kingdom. However their populations are too spread out over the western continent, so that they can¡¯t really make a country out of it. It¡¯s more like a big city where most of its inhabitants are of that respective race. The kingdom I live in is the Trita kingdom, which is the only one of which I know the names of the royal family. Amina Xerxes is the only princess of our country. Eraldo Xerxes is our king. The queen goes by the name of Thiri Mistlight, she is a dark elf. Originally she was a princess of the Okhalwood kingdom. But both the Trita kingdom and Elven kingdom wanted to become allies, so they chose Thiri Mistlight to marry the current king of our kingdom as his first wife. Amina Xerxes will need to marry the current crown prince of Okhalwood when she reaches the age of 21. Marriages like this between elves and humans was only made possible because the royal bloodline contains dragons blood. This allows them to live for 500 years, even without training their mana or further evolving their soul shards. The elven race have a similar life span, making it much easier to do such political marriages. The problem of having a dragonic bloodline is however also quite apparent. The purer the dragonic bloodline is, the less fertile you will become. That is why there is also only one crown prince in our country. His name is Tazmorn Xerxes. I haven¡¯t seen him yet. He should already be 25 years old. I heard he¡¯s a high rank adventurer and gathered quite some fame by singlehandedly subduing a wyvern that he now uses as a mount. I go to the teacher and submit my test, thinking that now is the best time to ask for some help with body strengthening spells. ¡®Miss Lazula, could you teach me body strengthening spells?¡¯, I ask with a somewhat timid voice, ¡®if it¡¯s not too much trouble of course.¡¯ ¡®hahaha, boy where did that bad temper of you go?¡¯, she asks while laughing and lowering one of her massive hands on my shoulder, ¡®Of course if you ask it that nicely, I will definitely be more inclined to help you. You seem to already have a well-trained body, making the process a lot easier. Hmmm, Come to me at 8 o¡¯clock in the evening. I¡¯ll be waiting in front of the teachers dorms.¡¯ ¡®Also¡¯, she suddenly whispers in my ear while lowering herself to my ear, ¡® I have always been interested in training someone with this bloodline.¡¯ Chapter 6 Slimy science Lazula grins at me and walks away. Her long black hair flowing down, contrasted by her light grey skin. Even though her height is unusual, it doesn¡¯t prevent her curves from being in the right places. The light grey skin and night black hair only serve to further add a slightly mystical sense of beauty to her. ¡®She really is quite perceptive huh.¡¯, I mumble, ¡®not only did she immediately recognize me when I walked in, even though my appearance changed that much, but she also immediately sensed that I have a dragonic bloodline.¡¯ I sigh and think, ¡®well that are titans for ya. They are the oldest and most mystical race. Nobody knows when the inception of their race was or how powerful their mystical powers are.¡¯ The lessons for the rest of the day are not that interesting. A lot of things are just basic knowledge or only require some common sense to understand. Though there was one thing I learned that peaked my interest. Apparently people in the Eastern continent don¡¯t use mana as power source. They use something called Qi. Qi is formed in a very complicated way. They will absorb mana in their body while guiding it through vital passageways such as the heart, brain and guts. By doing this they will add vitality power, also known as life power or aura power, to the absorbed mana. The whole guiding process of the mana is done by the power of the soul, which is a certain type of power that everyone¡¯s soul will emanates. By doing this they will also add soul power to the mix of life power and mana. So Qi is a mix of mana, life power and soul power. It¡¯s heavier than mana and allows them to use stronger body strengthening techniques, but the trade-off is that their ranged attacks will be severely lacking in power and speed if they don¡¯t have any supportive items. The heavy qi is difficult to compress, which makes it also troublesome to put in complicated spells. The heaviness of the power also prevents them from creating fast moving projectiles. In other words, using raw mana or qi have both their advantages and trade-offs. While thinking about all this unnecessary stuff I arrive in front of the royal dorms and it hits me only now that I¡¯m going to be interrogated. ¡®The princess won¡¯t kill me right?¡¯, I think while feeling slightly panicked, ¡®she shouldn¡¯t right? I didn¡¯t do anything wrong! I will have to run away If she really would try to kill me. Should I go to the eastern continent? They wouldn¡¯t go that far to chase me right?¡¯ Luckily I get taken out of my downwards spiral of dark thoughts by the gentle voice of Melia. ¡®Are you alright, you look a little bit pale?¡¯, she asks, ¡®ah, don¡¯t worry, the princess won¡¯t do anything to you. She would just like to know how you managed to create a dragonic bloodline for yourself.¡¯ ¡®pfew, thank you Melia, I really didn¡¯t know what was going to happen to me.¡¯, I thank her with a grateful expression. ¡®Why did you come if you were not certain what was going to happen? You don¡¯t seem to be a careless person when your temper doesn¡¯t flare up.¡¯, she asks with a puzzled expression while leading the way. ¡®Eheh, I was thinking about all the new knowledge I acquired today and totally forgot about the problems I had while walking to the royal dorms.¡¯, I say with a wry smile. ¡®hahaha, yes that is truly something you would do!¡¯, she says while giggling with a tinkling voice. ¡®Ugh, now I feel more embarrassed than nervous. Well, I guess that helps too.¡¯ , I think to myself.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. We arrive at a solitary room and I see that the princess is already sitting down. ¡®please take a seat¡¯, she says, ¡®now could you please explain to me how you managed to acquire a dragonic bloodline of such a high purity?¡¯ I sit myself down. Even though I know that she probably won¡¯t do anything, I still feel slightly scared. I mean who wouldn¡¯t? One wrong word and the whole country will try to kill me. So I explain her how I did my experiment, what happened in my experiment (or at least what I still remember of it). I describe the process and how I felt during the experiment. I see the faces of both the princess and the maid scrunch up when I describe how the machine broke my chest open or how those tendrils drilled holes all throughout my body. The princess stays silent after I¡¯m done with my explanation. Suddenly a man in a white lab suit enters the room which surprises me. ¡®What are the results?¡¯, asks the princess. ¡®We checked everything he said. Theoretically it should be possible to do something like that and honestly it really is the work of a genius. It¡¯s however almost impossible to survive in reality, even if we take in consideration that his body got strengthened by the dragons blood essence. The only explanation we have for that is that he is the only one with a slime soul shard that has a core. Core based slimes have higher magical capabilities and also possess astonishing adaptive abilities. They can absorb harmful things from their environments and integrate it into themselves as an asset through an inherent magical trait of core slimes.¡¯ ¡®I can give an example to illustrate this. If a normal slime enters a toxic environment it will die from poisoning. If however a core slime enters that same toxic environment, it will use magic to absorb those toxins into his body and then fuse with it resulting in the creation of a toxic core slime, which then will have the ability to survive in this environment without any consequences. This characteristic is however not that well known because no one wants to take the time to study the weakest species of our lands.¡¯ ¡®I see¡¯, says the princess with an interested expression, ¡®so you are saying that he could do this because his slime soul shard is one with a core.¡¯ ¡®correct!¡¯, says the scientist while looking with interest at me, ¡®he is also the only person to ever have had a slime soul shard with a core.¡¯ So I¡¯m special? What? Why did no one tell me dammit! Wait that¡¯s not the problem here, who gave goddamn permission for a scientist to eavesdrop on me while I¡¯m explaining my research?! ¡®I didn¡¯t know that there were other people listening in on our conversation!¡¯, I say through gritted teeth, trying to keep myself calm. The cooling stream of mana that flows through me with each beat of my heart seems to help me a lot with that. ¡®You should have expected as much after having created a dragonic bloodline for yourself.¡¯, says the princess with a grin, ¡®You didn¡¯t think we would just blindly believe you pertaining such information that might even threaten our national secret?¡¯ Ugh, she¡¯s right even though I don¡¯t like it. I better leave before I can get another chance to get angry. ¡®um, I had an appointment with miss Lazula, so I should get going now.¡¯, I say with a slightly impatient expression. ¡®Yes, you can go now.¡¯, says the princess, ¡®can you guide him back Melia?¡¯ ¡®Yes princess¡¯, says Melia while giving a slight bow, ¡®Follow me¡¯ ********* ¡®Phew that was close¡¯, I think to myself. It was so nerve-wracking to be there. I didn¡¯t know the princess could exert this kind of heavy pressure. It seems that there is more to her than just appearances. I arrive in front of the dorm of the teachers and I see Miss Lazula waving at me. I walk up to her with some more energy in my steps. Finally, I will be able to make myself stronger and learn my first few spells to spend this overabundant mana on! ¡®So you are here, I guess your little talk with the princess went well?¡¯, she says while gently smiling. What?! How did she know? I never told her that? ¡®Haha, I have my methods to know such things¡¯, she says with a mischievous expression. Can she read my mind? ¡®And no I can¡¯t read your mind.¡¯, she giggles. You sure? ¡®yes I¡¯m really sure¡¯, She says while laughing out loud, ¡®Boy, you¡¯re like an open book to me. You really don¡¯t have any control over your facial expressions, it shows all your emotions loud and clear.¡¯ I sigh and ask with a slightly exasperated tone, ¡®what will we be doing now?¡¯ ¡®well¡¯, she says while taking out a glowing stone, ¡®we will first test out what your current stats are with this stone.¡¯ ¡®After finding out your stats comes the fun part though¡¯, she says with a *slightly* more dangerous smile. Something tells me that fleeing to the Eastern continent might not have been such a bad idea. Chapter 7 The naked truth ¡°So let¡¯s check out how good your stats are right now¡±, Says Lazula with a more serious expression. ¡°You just have to put your hand on the stone and it will then read what your stats are. No need for extracting blood with this thing.¡± She seems to be very proud of something while saying that. ¡°Huh¡±, I say, ¡°I never heard of an apparatus that doesn¡¯t need blood to measure your stats? Did you create it yourself?¡± ¡°yes, I did. How did you know?¡±, she asks with a curious expression. ¡°you¡¯re like an open book to me. You really don¡¯t have any control over your facial expression, it shows all your emotions loud and clear.¡±, I say with a smug laugh, while using the same words she just used to describe me. She dangerously narrows her eyes while staring at me. ¡®Maybe I should not tease her too much¡¯, I think to myself while awkwardly coughing. I put my hands on the glowing stone with some urgency and feel a soft breeze going through my body. It has a relaxing feel to it and doesn¡¯t really feel like something that could actually read my stats. The stone suddenly lights up and projects my stats for both of us to see.
Sieg Alma Totals Estimated Regeneration Resistances
Vitality (dragon aura awakened/ human aura is not awakened) 100 Magical damage resistance: 30%
Stamina 110 Aura resistance: 15%
Endurance 20 Physical damage resistance: 20%
Mana capacity (mana bound to body) 200 2 mana/sec
Soul rank: Rank 3 (intermediate soul augmenter)
Battle power estimation: Rank H (strong rank 3 human)
Soul shard inherent traits unlocked (error 404: more traits unlocked than soul rank should permit): Adaptation: This trait allows you to¨´$¨´$^t¡±¡¯¡±¡¯!?(¨¨th¡¯¡±(¡°(;==¨¦:¡±(; Metal absorption: This trait allows you to absorp$^t¡±¡±¡ìut!etret=;:m¨´ Dragonic bloodline: This trait gives you a higher mana affinity, a stronger body and allows you to innately use dragon aura. Bloodline integrator: Allows you to consume bloodlines and inher^$¨´=¨´==$=¨¨(¨¤¨¤¡¯¡±¨¦(¨¨¨¤¨¦?¡¯ Mythril infused body: Gives you abnormally high magical and physical resistance.
Race: Human (75%), Dragonic Mythril Core Slime (25%) => [ Mythril Core slime (15%), Dragon (10%) ]
¡°Ooh¡±, she says with the astonishment apparent in her voice, ¡° you actually managed to catch up to the soul rank of your classmates, that¡¯s quite impressive.¡± ¡°Why are almost all my inherent traits all garbled up?¡±, I ask her with a confused expression. ¡°That means that they are new abilities that haven¡¯t been recorded yet.¡±, she says, ¡°Things like that happen from time to time. I had one too back in the day. You too will need to find out for yourself what those abilities can do and what their limits are. What I can infer though, is that you have more than the normal amount of inherent traits possible for your soul rank, which means that one of your abilities allows you to create new inherent traits without needing to upgrade your soul strength. That means that those abilities are directly implemented into your body and are not bound to your soul shard.¡± ¡°Ranks come from your main soul. Your main soul will go up in rank if your soul shard goes through a certain evolution. Your soul shard went from Core slime to Mythril core slime, which explains your first rank up. After that your soul shard must have been influenced by the dragon blood essence and have further evolved to a Dragonic Mythril Core slime. That evolution gave your main soul enough energy to enlarge itself to rank 3.¡±Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. ¡°Oh, I¡¯m not a pure human anymore¡±, I mumble. ¡°Of course¡±, she says with a mirthful expression, ¡°your soul shard is bound to a corporeal version of it. The corporeal version in your body is just as much part of you as your soul and soul shard are part of you.¡± ¡°What, disappointed to not be 100% human anymore?¡±, she asks. ¡°No not really, I kind of expected it to happen, but I anticipated it to be no more than 5 %.¡¯ ¡°Well that non-human 25% makes your body a lot stronger than any other normal human at the same rank, no matter what their soul shard is.¡±, she says with a smile, ¡°Here these are the normal stats for a normal human with a decent soul shard at rank 3.¡±
Normal rank 3 human Totals Estimated Regeneration Resistances
Vitality (aura is not awakened) 50 Magical damage resistance: 8%
Stamina 50 Aura resistance: 10%
Endurance 8 Physical damage resistance: 8%
Mana capacity 90 10 mana/min
Soul rank: Rank 3 (intermediate soul augmenter )
Battle power estimation: Rank i (normal rank 3 human)
Soul shard inherent traits unlocked: 3 traits will be unlocked
¡°And these are the stats for a normal Rank 1 human¡±, she says while showing me another stat chart.
Normal rank 1 human Totals Estimated Regeneration Resistances
Vitality (aura is not awakened) 20 Magical damage resistance: 5%
Stamina 20 Aura resistance: 5%
Endurance 5 Physical damage resistance: 5%
Mana capacity 30 1 mana/min
Soul rank: Rank 1 (beginner)
Battle power estimation: Rank K (normal human)
Soul shard inherent traits unlocked: 1 trait will be unlocked
¡°Can you show me your rank 1 stats?¡±, she asks. I take out a piece of paper, write my stats on it and then show her the stats I used have. I still feel slightly dazed by the massive improvements I made in all my stats, and feel giddy knowing that I¡¯m much stronger than any other human at rank 3.
Sieg Alma Totals Estimated Regeneration Resistances
Vitality (aura is not awakened) 25 Magical damage resistance: 0.5%
Stamina 30 Aura resistance: 0%
Endurance 1 Physical damage resistance: 1%
Mana capacity 5 1 mana/hour
Soul rank: Rank 1 (beginner)
Battle power estimation: Rank M (weak human =>[extremely weak soul shard, well trained body])
Soul shard inherent traits unlocked: Adaptation: This trait allows you to¨´$¨´$^t¡±¡¯¡±¡¯!?(¨¨th¡¯¡±(¡°(;==¨¦:¡±(;
Race: Human (100%)
¡°How many ranks are there actually? I only learned of 5 ranks, but I believe there is more than 5 ranks.¡±, I ask her. Lazula looks up from the sheet I gave her and smiles while saying, ¡°yes, there are ten ranks. Each have their own name, but for now it will be enough to know the names of the first 5 ranks. I¡¯m still impressed that you managed to skip the second rank, apprentice soul augmenter, with such shitty stats.¡± ¡°Do I need to explain what I did in my experiment? It may help with explaining what I need to do to learn a body strengthening spell.¡±, I ask her. ¡°No¡±, she says with a big grin, ¡°I listened in on you conversation with the princess.¡± ¡°What?!¡±, I roar, ¡°how many did she invite to listen to my explanation?!¡± ¡°Calm down boy¡±, says Lazula with a stern voice, ¡°I was an uninvited guest. I used earth magic to meld myself in the walls to listen to your conversation. Also, place some trust in the princess. She initially didn¡¯t want to invite anyone or even interrogate you in such a manner, but her father forced her hand to set up an interrogation and let a scientist listen in on your conversation.¡± ¡°I heard the princess actually wanted to talk about it over a meal in private when she found out the dragon aura came from someone she knew. She didn¡¯t even want to question you too much, she just wanted to know how in god¡¯s name that you acquired something so volatile and deadly as a dragons bloodline. You can¡¯t blame her for just being curious, but her father heard about it and forced the princess to change her idea of having a nice meal with you to an interrogation with other people listening in.¡± ¡°What? Why didn¡¯t she tell me that then?¡±, I ask her. ¡°Because you would not have believed her.¡±, Lazula says with a grin. ¡°Ugh, that¡¯s right, I probably would not have believed her.¡±, I sigh with a forlorn expression. ¡°But you believe me?¡±, says Lazula with a questioning expression. ¡°Titans can¡¯t lie and will have automatically a nervous expression when they are not telling the whole truth.¡±, I say to her with a radiant smile. ¡°hahaha!¡±, She laughs while saying, ¡° Sometimes I forget that you are one of the smartest students we have on our school.¡± ¡°Why?¡±, I ask her. ¡°Because your EQ is as low as it can get.¡±, she says with a big smirk, ¡° you can sometimes be so na?ve and stupid on the most random of subjects.¡± ¡®ugh, Miss lazula is right¡¯, I think to myself, ¡®I have been thrown out of my home at the age of 10 and spend my days ever since with only books in my hand. I almost never interacted with people apart from getting bullied and getting saved by the princess and her maid.¡¯ ¡°Now take off your clothes!¡±, she says suddenly with an absolute serious expression. Huh? What was that? Chapter 8 First time using magic Chapter 8 First time using magic ¡°Could you repeat that?¡±, I ask. ¡°Take of your clothes, all of them. We are alone in this room, so don¡¯t worry.¡±, she says again with the same deadpan face. ¡°Why?¡±, I ask in the smallest voice I can muster. ¡°Do you want a mediocre or a strong body strengthening spell?¡±, she asks me. ¡°I need to know exactly what you have done to your body and how your muscles are placed, so you will have to take off all of your clothes including your underpants.¡±, she says while looking at me with a completely serious expression. My face immediately takes on the color of red paint. I know she can¡¯t lie, so it means I will have to strip if I want to have a custom-made body strengthening spell. I grit my teeth. A custom-made spell is priceless. I can also see from her absolutely serious expression, that she won¡¯t do anything harmful to me. So I take all my clothes of in one go, revealing my well defined muscles and the strange black lines that run all over my body. There is also see a very weak blue glow coming from the place where my heart is if you look close enough. I see tiny blue glowing particles going through those black veins on my skin every time my heart beats. The teacher approaches me and starts going over my muscles with her hands. Her hands glow with a slight red brown color and I feel bits of mana penetrating through my skin probing into the inner structures of my body. She does this all with a completely serious expression, she just looks at me like a doctor would look at its patient. This process takes a long time. She furrows her brows from time to time and she sometimes even looks up to me with astonishment. I wonder what I did that warranted such a reaction. ¡°pfew, done!¡±, she says while wiping her sweat off from her brows. ¡°Your body is really the epitome of perfection!¡±, she says with an excited expression, ¡° the pathways that you created for guiding your mana through are even more perfect than those of the most talented magicians! This will insure that making a strong body strengthening spell for you, will be a lot easier.¡± She immediately takes out a few sheets of paper and starts drawing out my pathways. Then she starts highlighting the pathways that I should use for the spell. After five minutes of writing in silence she stands up and walks up to me. ¡°I will show you with my mana which pathways you need to fill with mana and how much you need to compress and speed up the mana flow to create the desired effects.¡±, she says. She places a hand on my back and guides the mana through my pathways. Then she starts to compress and disperse the mana in certain patterns throughout my pathways. Then she suddenly pushes the mana out of my pathways into the flesh of my body. When it enters my flesh it creates a magic circle that contains the strengthening spell within, this happened because the mana was compressed and dispersed in different patterns and those patterns then created the magical circle once it entered my flesh. You could see it as a language being translated to another language.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. The magical circle glowed and then infused itself in my body. I felt my strength rising to an unprecedented level. I felt like I could destroy the walls of this building with just a nudge from my hand. ¡°this will be your spell to make your strength temporarily rise.¡±, she says. She then continues to show me two more spells that I can use. One spell to increase my speed and one to strengthen the defenses of my body. ¡°These are all top tier versions in comparison with the same spells the school can give you¡±, she says with a smile. ¡°Are there no long range spells I can learn?¡±, I ask her. Lazula looks at me and shakes her head. ¡°You bound your soul shard to your body and for casting long range magic you need to have contact with the environment with your main soul or soul shard.¡±, she says. ¡°You will have to wait until rank 5 before your soul becomes large enough to go out of your body. You will be able to cast magic through your main soul when you learn to stop subconsciously suppressing your soul inside your body and when your soul becomes larger than your physical body. This sometimes also gets called the magicians Aura or Soul domain.¡±, she says while looking at me. ¡°Of course you can also cast spells by using your dragon aura to resonate with the mana in the atmosphere, but the delicate control of aura will only become possible for you when you reach rank 4 with your main soul. You will have to keep refining your soul shard with mana and hope it evolves another time releasing the evolutionary energy your main soul needs to enlarge itself and reach rank 4.¡± I listen to her explanation while putting my clothes back on and start stuffing the sheets of paper with the spells written on it inside my pockets. ¡®So I need to evolve my soul shard one more time huh¡¯, I think to myself while getting excited at the prospect of using ranged magic, ¡®luckily I fused my soul shard with the mana core and mana distribution system that I planted inside of my body. It will probably only take a year before my soul shard evolves. That means I will be able to rank up my main soul within a year and become a real full-fledged magician!¡¯ ¡°I recommend practicing those spells I gave you all day long from now on, you will need them for the practical part of your studies later this year.¡±, she says while guiding me back out of the teachers dorms. ¡°What will that practical part entail?¡±, I ask her curiously. ¡°It will probably be some kind of beginners mission that requires a lot of people to work together, but even if it is a beginners mission for adventurers, I still urge you to be very cautious! The forest is a dangerous place no matter how vigilant you are.¡±, she warns me with a stern voice. ¡°Thank you for all the help Miss Lazula. If you ever need my help, I will be happy to oblige.¡±, I say with a smile. I start walking away with a fast pace. ¡®Luckily she didn¡¯t say anything about my naked body, it was already bad enough to just stand in front of her like that. I would be embarrassed to death if she would have laughed or anything like that.¡¯, I think to myself while sighing in relief. ¡°Oh yeah, one last thing Sieg!¡±, she says, making me turn around to listen to her. ¡°Your wife will definitely be very satisfied with you in the future, you are after all a very well-endowed person.¡±, she says while mischievously giggling like a little girl. Aaah, why do I suddenly feel that I lost something important of myself? Chapter 9 Melia鈥檚 concerns (Melia POV) Melia is standing in front of the kings office. The princess had just entered that room with stomping feet. Melia could understand why the princess is so angry right now. The king had forced her to betray the trust that Sieg had in her and forbid her from telling Sieg the truth about the whole situation. ¡®I still hope that Sieg finds this out. Even if that makes him hate the king, I still hope he can forgive the royal family for what they did. We are in a very precarious situation right now, the king has no other choice than to take such heavy measures for such minor inconveniences.¡¯, Melia thought while sighing. Melia always thought of Sieg as a cute little brother. The mental age of Sieg never really changed after he had been exiled by his family at the age of 10. He felt betrayed by his mother and father and decided to withdraw himself into his own little world, that only had enough space for his research. This only further urged her to take care of Sieg and help him out when he was in trouble. She also felt truly happy when she found out that his experiment was a success. She would honestly have gone into a depression if he had died while trying out the experiment on his body. She truly cared for him like a big sister would care for her little brother. ¡°Hah¡±, sighed Melia while thinking, ¡®If he knew what his mother had sacrificed to enable him to study at the best school of the country.¡¯ But Sieg never knew, because his father forbid his mother from further interacting with her son. He didn¡¯t want her to ¡®waste her energy¡¯ on a ¡®piece of trash¡¯ and focus on their more talented offspring. He thought it would be detrimental for their power growth if they saw their mother babying their less talented brother.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. ¡®I even heard rumors that his two sisters don¡¯t even know that they have a brother that has been exiled to the elite soul school of this kingdom.¡¯, Melia thinks with a frown, ¡®But the most disturbing thing I heard is that his father decided to remarry with another woman to create more offspring and locked his first wife away in one of the rooms in his castle.¡¯ ¡®We can¡¯t tell Sieg any of this, although they are just ''rumors''. Even if he is socially awkward, I do know for sure that he would try to go back home and kill his father if he knew that his mother sacrificed her freedom so that he could study at the best school in the kingdom.¡¯, Melia thinks while hearing the loud voice from the princess reprimanding her father inside the kings office. ¡®The only trash I see is his father¡¯, contemplates Melia while hearing footsteps close in on the doors of the kings office. The doors open up and the princess comes outside with a triumphant expression. ¡°What did the king say?¡±, asks Melia. ¡°He will no longer try to pull this kind of shit again!¡±, says the princess with a big grin. ¡°I told him that if he tried to hurt Sieg ever again, I would castrate him in his sleep and tell mama that he has been a bully when she wakes up!¡±, says the princess while laughing with a mischievous expression. ¡°Why is your mother still sleeping?¡±, asks Melia with a curious expression, while trying to ignore what she just heard that the princess said to her father. ¡°hah¡±, said the princess while sighing with a somewhat forlorn, ¡°Mama got attacked while returning from the Elven kingdom. She got injured and she is recovering right now. That only cements the fact that there might be a war soon between the Angels and our alliance of our two kingdoms.¡± Melia was shocked into silence and hoped that the princess would be wrong for once. Chapter 10 In the king鈥檚 office The princess still remembered the day she met the mother of Sieg. It was at one of those big parties where all the big shots convened. She didn¡¯t know Sieg back then, but the mother of Sieg suddenly walked up to her that day. Her eyes had been bloodshot and puffy. She had apparently been crying for days after Marquis Mordred, her husband and the father of Sieg, had forcefully exiled Sieg out of his territory. He did this after he found out that his sons soul shard was a slime. He wouldn¡¯t allow his wife to go with him, he had said to her that she was needed to take care of their 2 year old twin daughters. Vyrna Alma, the mother of Sieg, prostrated herself in front of the princess. She begged her to take her son into the Elite Soul School. She stuffed a pouch filled with gems and gold, all the money she possessed, into the hands of the princess. Vyrna had asked her to never tell Sieg anything of this. She said that he was too weak and that it already was a blessing that her husband didn¡¯t kill him. She kept on begging the princess until her husband found out about it. He rushed up to them and dragged his wife over the floor. After having forcefully send his wife back home the Marquis apologized to the princess, he said that his wife had gone a bit insane after finding out that her son¡¯s potential was so trashy. The princess didn¡¯t buy it, even though she was only 10 years old back then. Her dragonic bloodline gave her enhanced senses and her upbringing as a princess made her a lot sharper than any other person of her age. She didn¡¯t believe what the Marquis told her. She decided to accept the money and told her dad to accept Sieg into the Elite Soul School. Her father knew how stubborn his daughter could be and allowed this to happen. But the princess had wanted to tell Sieg what happened for the last few years. She had told her dad that she was going to tell him the truth and that Sieg was old enough to hear it. Her dad however forbade her of doing that. The kingdom had become unstable. There were spies among the nobles from another force. The same force that had been guiding the Angels to do some questionable things. He didn¡¯t know which nobles it were, but they were waiting for an opportunity. They waited for the king to do something that harmed a noble. They waited to use such an opportunity to rile up all the nobles into a revolution and take over the throne. He couldn¡¯t afford Sieg going haywire. If he somehow managed to kill his father and people saw the connection he had with the royal family, then a revolt would immediately ensue. Killing all the revolting nobles would weaken of the country, which was unacceptable with the angels of the Eyphidia kingdom being so restless at the time. The king was stuck between a rock and a hard place. So he decided that it was better for now to keep Sieg in the dark despite his daughters pleas. ¡°So, what did you find out about Sieg Miny (nickname princess)?¡±, asks the king, pulling her out of her thoughts. She just looked at her dad with a dissatisfied expression. ¡°Oh come on, please don¡¯t do that Miny. I know that our dragonic bloodline makes our emotions stronger and more straightforward, but I can¡¯t afford to let my emotions lead me in this precarious situation.¡±, says her dad. ¡°Those emotions are also the only reason why the elves wanted to be allies with us! We would never have gotten a request to ally ourselves with the elves if we had just been tyrants and emotionless assholes like the leaders of the other countries on this continent.¡±, says Amina with a dissatisfied expression.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Miny, please not now.¡±, says the king while looking tired and stressed out. ¡°What happened dad?¡±, asks the princess noticing her dads strange behavior . ¡°Your mother got attacked while returning from the Elven kingdom.¡±, says her father while sighing. ¡°What? Is she okay?¡±, asks the princess with a distressed voice. ¡°Yes, she is resting now to recover from her injuries. Don¡¯t worry, the wounds were all superficial.¡±, says the king with a reassuring smile. ¡°Is that why you overreacted when you found out that Sieg acquired a dragonic bloodline?¡±, says the princess while putting her hands on her hips. ¡°Yes¡±, whispered the king. ¡°You will stop annoying him now?¡±, asks the princess while glaring at the king. ¡°But he¡­!¡±, Says the king but gets interrupted. ¡°I¡¯ll castrate you in your sleep and tell mama when she wakes up that you are a bully if you keep this up.¡±, says the princess while grinning. The king feels a chill going down his spine, he really would be in for something if his wife found out. ¡°Fine.¡±, he said while sighing. ¡°So can I now go tell Sieg what his mother did for him? I personally think it¡¯s the perfect time to take action against that asshole of a father. You heard the rumors too right? That his mother might be detained in her own house? We should tell Sieg now and help him save his mother!¡±, the princess says while getting agitated. ¡°NO!¡±, roars the king, ¡°The kingdom is in a completely unstable situation. The angels are starting a war against us and the elves and we have to prevent a revolution from happening in OUR OWN FUCKING KINGDOM!¡± ¡°We can¡¯t let our childish emotions take over right now! We don¡¯t know who is behind the scenes of all this. We don¡¯t know why the angels are already going to war again, so short after they got almost annihilated in the last big war. The person who is controlling all these events from behind the scenes is still unknown, so we can¡¯t afford to help Sieg right now. His mother isn¡¯t in immediate danger. I want to help to you know? But we can¡¯t with an impending revolution!¡± The king took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. His wife getting hurt shook him more than he thought it had. His hands were shaking because of the stress. He suddenly felt the hands of his daughter on top of his. She was frowning. ¡°Fine, I understand that we are in a dangerous situation right now.¡±, she says while sighing and calming down her fluctuating emotions. ¡°But we still need to stop the news of Sieg gaining so much power from reaching his father.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry¡±, says the king while grinning, ¡°we¡¯ll make the Marquis fall sick. We might not be able to kill him , but we can still make him completely immobile. Everybody will suspect a sudden death among the nobles, but no one will suspect anything if he is just sick for a few months. They won¡¯t be able to start a revolution over a sick noble.¡± ¡°hah¡±, sighed the king while smiling wryly, ¡°I sometimes don¡¯t really know if our strengthened emotions are a blessing our a curse. This dragonic bloodline does really make us a lot more emotional.¡± ¡°I¡¯m happy to still have emotions. I have seen those other leaders from the other kingdoms and I don¡¯t want to become as emotionless or as cruel as them. I feel happy being too able to help someone who deserves it when I can.¡±, she says while smiling proudly. ¡°Yeah but don¡¯t make your boyfriend, the crown prince of the elves, jealous by helping Sieg.¡±, says the king while chuckling. ¡°Igy would never be jealous! He knows how much I love him. Not every relation between a woman and a man has to be sexual¡±, she says while pouting. ¡°Haha, well I¡¯m glad you fell in love with Igomar! The elves don¡¯t believe in a forced marriage and neither do I. It¡¯s good to see that both sides of the alliance will be connected this way.¡±, says the king while laughing and reminiscing about how he first fell in love with his wife. The situation eased a bit up. ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much about the mother of Sieg. Our spies have reported that they might have found a clue that could lead us to the instigator of all this. When this whole situation dies down we will do everything in our power to help Sieg.¡±, the king says while smiling at his daughter. (Full name of crown prince of the elves: Igomar Lightgrove) Chapter 11 Practical exam Two months have passed after my first training session with miss Lazula. I have been training non-stop in these two months, allowing me to get a better understanding of the body-strengthening spells. I found out that I could stack each of the spells up to two times without getting any lasting negative effects. I can for example use a strength increasing spell which increases my strength 5 times as long as I can keep it active with my mana. However if I stack this spell two times I can increase my strength 25 times. I however can¡¯t stack the spell three times because that would bring lasting damage to my body. I can keep 1 stack active for half an hour before I run out of mana, two stacks can however only be kept active for 6 minutes. Also two stacks will make me feel exhausted after use and it always takes me half a day to recuperate. The same principle applies for the spell that increases my speed and the spell that increases my durability. Increasing my proficiency in these spells was however not the most important thing that happened to me during these two months. The integration with the dragonic bloodline gave me unexpected problems. I didn¡¯t feel anything in the first week that I acquired this bloodline. However the problems came when the true integration started. The initial fusion with the dragonic bloodline just made it possible for me to keep producing dragon essence blood in my body, but this blood had not really fully integrated with me yet. After a week¡¯s time the dragon essence blood started to also influence my brain beside just my body. The problem however is that dragons and humans are completely different races. It gave some really funky effects when emotions induced by the dragonic bloodline clashed with my human psyche. To give you an example of how bad it got, is when I accidently stomped on a rainbow beetle. You would expect me to not really care, but because I felt a bit sad of having stomped on such a beautiful beetle my emotions suddenly went haywire. You see this sadness got suddenly immensely amplified by the back then still unstable dragonic bloodline. This sadness got amplified and blown out of proportion. I ended up crying for a half a day because I stomped on a beetle. I still feel embarrassed just thinking about it. Similar incidents kept happening at random times because of the instability of my bloodline. I heard for example that a rogue squad of angles attacked one of our border towns, I of course felt a bit angry that they killed innocent people without any remorse. Of course my unstable bloodline thought it was a good idea to amplify this anger to ridiculous levels inciting me to grab a sword and stomp my way to that border town and kill those angels. Luckily the princess saw this and managed to stop me from going haywire. She had already given me an explanation in the first week after I acquired this bloodline, explaining to me that I would experience such effects. The problem was however that I¡¯m 10% dragon unlike the royals that are 99% human and 1% dragon. Also the royals do the fusion at the age of 5 to prevent big accidents from happening. However I¡¯m already 18 making it a lot more troublesome if I throw a fit. Combine this with a purer dragonic bloodline and you get the perfect blend for stupid things to happen. Luckily the princess seemed to have made it her job to look out for me during the time I was emotionally unstable to the point of insanity. It took me a month and a half to calm down and stabilize my bloodline. While my emotions are still somewhat stronger now, it¡¯s still in acceptable boundaries. I also managed to calm my emotions down a lot faster thanks to the 15% slime part in my body. You see, slimes have neutral emotions. That means that they neither experience negative or positive emotions. This neutrality that the slime part of my body provided helped me stabilize the emotions of my dragonic bloodline and was also what helped me survive those one and a half months of insanity. It seems that integrating with a bloodline is not all sunshine and happiness. It comes with a certain amount of risk of going insane in the process of the emotions of the bloodline and the emotional traits of your race fusing together.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. I also did some research on my new traits I acquired after my ascension to rank 3 in my more clear moments. I managed to find out what one of them did. I researched the trait Bloodline integrator: Allows you to consume bloodlines and inher^$¨´=¨´==$=¨¨(¨¤¨¤¡¯¡±¨¦(¨¨¨¤¨¦?¡¯. I found out that with this trait I can integrate with any bloodline and acquire traits from them. There is however one catch to it. The bloodline I want to integrate must be stronger than any other bloodline I already have. A dragonic bloodline is however already one of the strongest bloodlines out there, making this trait next to useless. However the good thing about this trait is that I can use the essence blood of weaker bloodlines to strengthen the dragonic bloodline and make it more pure. By doing this I might be able to unlock more dragon based traits that I then will be able to use. Who knows, maybe I will be able to get firebreath someday, which is the strongest attack of a dragon. I already injected some lesser bloodlines and even thought nothing happened, I could still feel my dragon aura becoming somewhat stronger. This can only mean that my theory should be right. I have also seen that the princess seemed to want to tell me something during these two months. Even though I didn¡¯t notice it at first, I started to see that from time to time she was on the verge of telling me something but then seemed to change her mind at the last second while looking slightly vexed. When I talked one day with her about my parents and how I would show them that they made the wrong choice in abandoning me, the princess told me that I should not hold a grudge against my whole family. Even though my EQ might not be the best (even though it got somewhat better because of the increased senses provided by my dragonic bloodline), my high IQ helped me understand that the thing that the princess wanted to tell me might be related to my family. I also understood how strange it was that I was able to study at the most prestigious school of the country. There was something fishy going on here, the royal family would not have allowed me to enter this school if not for someone¡¯s interference. But I cannot afford to think about this right now, if I manage to pass the last test of the Elite Soul SchooI, I will be able to acquire a noble title for myself. This will give me enough authority to return home and solve any problems that might have occurred. One day the princess seemed to have made up her mind and was about to tell me what was going on. But I stopped her. I know I might hate myself for this later on, but I need to first acquire a certain amount of authority before I can wantonly involve myself in the cesspool that is called politics. If I have no authority and only this measly amount of strength of a rank 3 soul augmentator, then I have no power to truly change anything. I know how unstable my emotions still are even after stabilizing myself to a certain extent. I can¡¯t know for certain if I will be able to keep my wits about it if I hear what has been going on behind the scenes after I have been exiled out of my own family. Even if I will hate myself for this later on, I know I should first acquire strength and political authority before I try to attempt anything. It¡¯s better for now to focus on what I need. I also don¡¯t want to further burden the princess after all the help she has given me. She first helped me keeping bullies at bay and later on helped me controlling my emotions. She taught me how to control and stabilize my dragonic bloodline. She helped me further my understanding of my spells by being my ever patient sparring partner. She is like a big sister I never had. I could see with my measly EQ that she was suffering. She knew that telling me would bring me in danger and might even affect the country with how close the war is these days. I understand that she doesn¡¯t want me to go haywire both for my safety and also for our currently unstable kingdom. She explained to me the current situation of the kingdom, so I know how bad it is right now. Since I can¡¯t know for certain if I will be able to control myself with my still unstable emotions, I decided to help the princess and ask her to tell me after I became strong enough to take actions without harming the country. After telling her that, the tension disappeared. She seemed more happy and less depressed the last few weeks before our practical exam. I was happy too, seeing that I could help her with something for once. I wonder if this is how a real family feels like. Suddenly our class stops marching and the princess nudges me in my sides. ¡°We have arrived!¡±, she whispers with an excited undertone to me. Her eyes are sparkling in anticipation. I can see other classes with elves and beast people already waiting for us in front of the big forest. We have arrived at the practical exam! Finally it¡¯s time for me to truly see how strong I have become! Chapter 12 Making a deal with the devil ¡°MINY!!!!¡± ¡°IGY!!!!¡± I hear someone calling the princess by her nickname and then see the princess running towards the place the voice came from. She jumps in the man¡¯s arms while happily calling out his nickname. ¡®That should be her boyfriend Igomar Lightgrove, he is the crown prince and son of the current king and queen of the elves. It seems that the rumors are true, that elves never do forced marriages.¡¯, I think while walking up to the chittering couple. ¡°Who is he?¡±, asks the crown prince while looking at me with a somewhat suspicious glare. ¡°He is my friend, gosh, not all males want to hook up with me!¡±, says the princess while playfully knocking the crown prince on his head. When I get closer to both of them I can see that the princess stands taller than the crown prince. The princess should be around 5 feet and 10 inches while the crown prince is 5 feet and 8 inches tall. They do make up for a really odd couple when I see them standing together like that. Igomar however doesn¡¯t seem to really care that he is shorter than his fianc¨¦e though. I walk up to him and politely offer him my hand. He first looks up at me and then smiles while shaking my hand. ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡±, says Igomar while scratching the back of his head in embarrassment, ¡°I¡¯m sometimes a bit overprotective when it comes to my dear wife.¡± ¡°Gosh Igy, we are not married yet!¡±, says the princess while pouting. ¡°But I already see us as a married couple¡±, says Igomar while looking up at the princess with sad puppy eyes. ¡°Awww, you really think so, that is so sweet of you Igy, you are the best!¡±, squeals the princess while tightly hugging him. ¡°Are they always like that¡±, I ask Melia who also just walked up to our group. ¡°yes¡±, she says while sighing, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you will eventually get used to it.¡± ¡°iiii, Igy where do you think you are touching¡±, squeals the princess suddenly while giggling. ¡°But you are so beautiful my love, I just can¡¯t help myself¡±, says Igomar to princess with a slightly flushed face. ¡°Ugh this is too sweet for me, my teeth are starting to ache.¡±, I grumble while trying to look somewhere else. Melia sighs for a second time. Something tells me that this is not the first time for her that this is happening. I can¡¯t complain about the princess her taste though. Igomar is a handsome lean male elf with platinum blond hair. His ears are longer than that of a normal elf which means that he is a High Elf. They are a stronger version of normal elves and have affinity for each magical element the normal elves can possess. That means he has nature affinity, sun affinity and darkness affinity which respectively comes from wood elves, sun elves and dark elves. He also has golden eyes which means his highest affinity is for sun based magic, which is an extremely destructive form of fire magic. ¡°OKAY EVERYONE GATHER IN A CIRCLE AROUND ME!¡±, Miss Lazula suddenly yells. The beastmen, elves and humans gather around her to listen what our assignment is going to be that will enable us to pass the practical exam. ¡°Is everyone here? Good! Let¡¯s start with a general explanation first¡±, says miss Lazula while looking around to see if everyone has arrived.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°First and foremost, this will be a collaboration between the Elves Soul University and the Elite Soul School. This means that you will have to pair up with at least two individuals of the other school. We do this to create a stronger bond between our two countries and create some trust between the citizens of both kingdoms. Each squad will consist of 5 individuals which means you can choose a maximum of 3 teammates of your school before we will assign 2 teammates from the other school if you can¡¯t decide who you want to pick from the Elven Soul University and the Elite Soul School. There are also beastmen in the elven academy, because they live in the same forest that the Elven kingdom has been founded. So if you can choose, try to pick with some variety with who you will cooperate with.¡± ¡°Now for what you need to do is to retrieve this!¡±, Miss Lazula says while showing us a purple glowing core. ¡°This is a rank 5 soul core of a Soulbeast. Of course we understand that defeating a rank 5 Soulbeast is impossible for all of you since reaching rank 5 means a qualitative change in your life form. The highest rank among you is rank 4 and we know that it is impossible to defeat a rank 5 Soulbeast, even with a squad of 5 individuals at rank 4. What we ask of you is to hunt and scavenge in the forest and bring us something back that has an equivalent value to this core. For example, gathering 500 rank 4 Soulbeast cores will have an equal value to one rank 5 core. You can also gather rare herbs, mine for rare mana crystals, scout out rock formations for rare ores and the list goes on. In other words use your knowledge of materials and creatures that you can find in the forest to find the things you need. Ultimately you need to have enough resources to exchange for one rank 5 core.¡± ¡°This will be the assignment, now form your squads if there aren¡¯t any questions!¡± Everyone immediately starts scrambling around after the explanation to find the best teammates to work together with. It seems however that everyone is avoiding us, which is no surprise with having two royals in our group. I look around for one person of the Elves Soul University to correctly fill up our squad. However, when I try to approach someone they suddenly increase their speed as if they see the most dreadful creature approaching them. ¡°I¡¯m not that ugly, am I?¡±, I ask Melia to which she just giggles to in response. ¡®The hell is that supposed to mean Melia?!¡¯, I shout in my head while still looking out for a potential squad member. I can¡¯t see anyone that wants to join us when everything clears up. I keep looking around and suddenly see someone with a hooded vest that has the Elves Soul University logo embroidered on it. She seems to be standing all alone underneath a tree. ¡°Hey she seems to be alone, let¡¯s invite her to our squad!¡±, I say while being excited that we still have the luck to find someone that is not totally unwilling to join us. ¡°You can¡¯t do that.¡±, says the crown prince while looking somewhat anxious. ¡°Why not?¡±, I ask the prince in confusion. ¡°Because she is from the Devil race!¡±, says the crown prince while frowning. ¡°So what? I don¡¯t give a shit about race.¡±, I say while sighing disdainfully, ¡°I never would have thought that you are a racist Igomar.¡± ¡°No wait! You don¡¯t understand!¡±, yells the prince in vain. I pretend I don¡¯t hear him yelling and walk up to the hooded person and tap her on the shoulder. ¡°Hello, could you join our squad? We are still missing one person.¡±, I ask her while she turns around and looks up at me with curious eyes. Her eyes are bright red with black slits as pupils. I can also see two beautifully curled black horns under her hood which stand in stark contrast with her bright red skin. ¡°You don¡¯t mind having a Cursed Devil in your squad?¡±, she asks while grinning at me which clearly shows her sharp teeth. ¡°Absolutely not!¡±, I say while getting somewhat excited at the prospect of having a real Devil in our squad, ¡°Devils usually don¡¯t come to the surface and stay in Middle Earth. And you are apparently even a cursed variation of the Devil race! I think it would absolutely interesting to have someone like you on our squad! I heard that Devils have amazing mana manipulation abilities and can insta-cast any spell that they learn. You don¡¯t mind me asking some questions during the journey would you? I have always been interested in the Devil race and how they strengthen their bloodline, after all it shares some similarities with one of my abilities.¡± I start rambling to her in my excitement of having the opportunity to interact with a real devil. This is an opportunity I can¡¯t pass out on. She also seems to be a very nice person, I can¡¯t feel any devil aura from her which means she has not done the ritual yet. ¡°You are not afraid?¡±, she asks while giggling. ¡°Absolutely not, you are a very kind person, I¡¯m sure of it!¡±, I say in excitement while having a radiant smile and twinkling eyes. ¡°Okay I will join your squad¡±, she says while smiling. I swear that the thump I heard behind me is the crown prince falling on the ground because he fainted. Chapter 13 The racist crown prince ¡°So what¡¯s your name?¡±, I ask her while walking back to my group. ¡°You ask that after inviting me to your group?¡±, she says while giggling. ¡°Ah! Yes, I¡¯m sorry. I was just so excited to see a real devil. Usually they stay underground since the grand war. I¡¯m sorry if I sometimes am a bit too overzealous, I just always get overexcited if something interests me.¡±, I say while scratching the back of my head in embarrassment. ¡°Hehe¡±, she giggles while saying, ¡°I don¡¯t mind, it¡¯s better than all the hateful stares I usually get. The devils didn¡¯t really leave behind a good impression during the war.¡± ¡°Well they did massacre entire villages with innocent people during the great war just to awaken and strengthen their bloodline faster. Sentient races are generally not so forgiving about such matters.¡±, I say while arriving at our group where the princess is busy trying to wake the fainted crown prince up. ¡°By the way, my name is Sieg Alma and this here is Melia Ignis. She is Amina Xerxes and is the princess of the Trita Kingdom. That pile of useless flesh over there is the racist crown prince of the elves, Igomar Lightgrove.¡±, I say while pointing at the respective individuals. ¡°Hey I¡¯m not racist! I just don¡¯t like her!¡±, yells the prince while standing back up on his quivering legs. ¡°Then why did you say that we shouldn¡¯t take her in our squad?¡±, I ask while glaring at him. ¡°I think you said something along the lines that she was a devil and that¡¯s why we shouldn¡¯t take her in our squad.¡± ¡°Ooh, is that so?¡±, asks the Devil girl while grinning at the crown prince. ¡°Well, I might have¡±, says the prince with a quivering voice, ¡°I just don¡¯t really like devils, because our army has had some fall-outs with rogue devils that tried to steal wisdom fruits of our world tree.¡± ¡°Well, if devils are so hated by the Elves, then why would they allow her to study at the Elves Soul University?¡±, I ask the prince with a curious expression. ¡°Lothea Rimuchi , this devil, is the adopted daughter of the principal of the Elves Soul University. That is why there is no problem.¡±, He says while trying to inch away as far as possible from Lothea. ¡°Hmm, I think there is something more to this situation. Elves won¡¯t hate an entire race because of some ancient history and some criminals. They might dislike them but not really hate them.¡±, I say while pondering. ¡°I think you are just afraid of Lothea. You seem to inch away from her, every time she comes closer. Hmm, it¡¯s almost like a conditioned reflex.¡± ¡°Ah, I know!¡±, I say with a big smile, ¡° I bet she beat you up multiple times, so many times in fact that you became conditioned to fear her! I read about this in a book about the unconsciousness and brainwashing.¡± ¡°Fufufu, that¡¯s right!¡±, Lothea confirms while laughing, ¡° He used to be a real arrogant jerk. He always oppressed everyone at the university with his identity. But the worst part was that he targeted me in particular. He always said that my horns were ugly and that my skin had a disgusting color. One day it got so bad that he and some other guys and girls beat me up just for being different. When I ran away while crying, my father saw this and immediately taught me how to fight. When I felt confident about my abilities I beat everyone up that used to bully me. Of course, the instigator of that whole mess got special treatment.¡± The crown prince seems to be again on the brink of fainting when the ¡°special treatment¡± gets mentioned. ¡°What did you do? You really conditioned him thoroughly with your method.¡±, I say while chuckling at the sight of the prince almost fainting again. ¡°Well, my father taught me a flameball spell and a healing spell for healing my injuries, but I used it differently. I burned the prince alive and then healed him back to full health. Repeating this process multiple times a day for a couple of months does really work wonders. Also my father is the strongest high elf in the elven kingdom, so the royals didn¡¯t dare to interfere.¡±, she says while giggling. Thump! I look up and see that the prince has fainted again. This must truly be a very effective method to condition someone. I should try to remember this, maybe I will have use for it someday. ¡°I know that Igy used to be a real jerk back in the day, but can you please be somewhat lenient with him now?¡±, asks the princess while sighing, ¡°He really changed in the past couple of years, going from an arrogant young master to become a real dependable man.¡± ¡®I wonder how he is dependable in any way?¡¯, I think while trying to keep a straight face. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, burning him a couple of times also burned my anger for him away¡±, says Lothea while gently smiling at the princess. ¡®Somehow that smile doesn¡¯t seem to conform with what¡¯s she is saying. Or is that just me?¡¯, I think while still trying to maintain my poker face. I somehow feel that I should keep all these comments about the situation in my head, or something less than pleasant will happen to me. ¡°I think it would be good to show each other our stats before we go into the forest. Knowing each other strengths and weaknesses will allow us to cooperate better.¡±, says Melia suddenly, trying to get the conversation going in a different direction. ¡°Okay, sound good¡±, I say, relieved that we can get out of this awkward situation. After that we show each other our status papers. Sieg Alma
Sieg Alma Totals Estimated Regeneration Resistances
Vitality (dragon aura/ human aura is not awakened) 130 Magical damage resistance: 31%
Stamina 140 Aura resistance: 16%
Endurance 22 Physical damage resistance: 22%
Mana capacity (mana bound to body) 250 2.5 mana/sec
Soul rank: Rank 3 (intermediate soul augmenter)
Battle power estimation: Rank j-i (extraordinary rank 3 human)
Soul shard inherent traits unlocked (error 404: more traits unlocked than soul rank should permit): Adaptation: This trait allows you to¨´$¨´$^t¡±¡¯¡±¡¯!?(¨¨th¡¯¡±(¡°(;==¨¦:¡±(; Metal absorption: This trait allows you to absorp$^t¡±¡±¡ìut!etret=;:m¨´ Dragonic bloodline: This trait gives you a higher mana affinity, a stronger body and allows you to innately use dragon aura. Bloodline integrator: This trait Allows you to consume bloodlines and inherit some of their traits. The bloodlines must be stronger than your current bloodline or no traits will be inherited. Weaker bloodlines get consumed to strengthen the already existing bloodlines. (New)Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Mythril infused body: This trait gives you abnormally high magical and physical resistance. It also gives you better control over your internal mana. (New)
Race: Human (75%), Dragonic Mythril Core Slime (25%) => [ Mythril Core slime = 15%, Dragon = 10% ]
Soul shard (bound to body) : Core Slime => Mythril Core Slime => Dragonic Mythril Core Slime
Princess:
Amina Xerxes Totals Estimated Regeneration Resistances / (fusion-mode values)
Vitality (dragon aura/ human aura is not awakened) 100 Magical damage resistance: 20%
Stamina 110 Aura resistance: 10%
Endurance 15 Physical damage resistance: 15%/ (25%)
Mana capacity 400 4 mana/sec
Soul rank: Rank 4 (experienced soul augmenter)
Battle power estimation: Rank H (strong rank 4 human)
Dragonic strength: This trait gives your body massive strength even without fusing with your soul shard. Dragonic bloodline: This trait gives you a higher mana affinity, a stronger body and allows you to innately use dragon aura. Internal dragonic flame: This trait allows you to insta-cast dragonic fire magic. Dragon scale: This trait allows you to create a scale based armor when in fusion-mode. This will give you, when in fusion-mode, an extra 10% Physical damage resistance. Dragonic height: This trait allows you to let yourself grow to the height of a real dragon and you can control your height at will while being in fusion-mode.
Race: Human (99%), Dragonic (1%)
Soul shard : Red Wyvern => Lesser Red Dragon => Normal Red Dragon => Lesser Red Dragon King
Melia Ignis:
Melia Ignis Totals Estimated Regeneration Resistances / (fusion-mode values)
Vitality (Flame sword aura awakened) 150 Magical damage resistance: 23% / (28%)
Stamina 150 Aura resistance: 12% / (17%)
Endurance 10 Physical damage resistance: 10% / (15%)
Mana capacity 450 3 mana/sec
Soul rank: Rank 4 (experienced soul augmenter)
Battle power estimation: Rank H (strong rank 4 human)
Flame sword: When in fusion-mode you can summon a sword condensed of flames. This also allows you to use the Flame sword aura which will lacerate and burn people who come to close. Flame armor: When in fusion-mode you can summon an armor condensed of flames, which gives you an extra 5% magical, aura and physical damage resistance. Creates a blistering aura around you that supports the flame sword aura. Phasing: This trait allows you to phase through objects and gives you increased speed, interference of mana can cancel this skill out. Short-term flight is also possible. Soul fire: This trait allows you to insta-cast any fire based magic and gives you a fire infused body, which will significantly increase your vitality and stamina.
Race: Human (100%)
Soul shard : Flaming soul => Flaming Warrior => Flaming Sword Warrior => Flaming Revenant Sword Warrior
Igomar Lightgrove
Igomar Lightgrove Totals Estimated Regeneration Resistances / (fusion-mode values)
Vitality (sun aura) 90 Magical damage resistance: 20%
Stamina 95 Aura resistance: 10%
Endurance 9 Physical damage resistance: 9% / (29%)
Mana capacity 500 4 mana/sec
Soul rank: Rank 4 (experienced soul augmenter)
Battle power estimation: Rank H (strong rank 4 Elf)
Gravitational pull: This trait allows you to manipulate the surrounding gravity when in fusion mode. Can be cancelled out by strong aura or mana interference. Brown dwarf armor: This trait allows you to summon an extreme dense and heavy armor that makes the physical damage resistance go up with 20%. This armor will however slow your movement down. White dwarf everlasting aura: Supports sun aura and allows you to use sun aura even when not in fusion-mode. Solar flare: Allows you to insta-cast all sun-based fire magic and gives you the ability to use sun aura. Sun aura will burn everything in your proximity and can blind light sensitive individuals.
Race: High Elf (100%) => [Wood elf = 25%; Dark elf = 25%; Sun elf = 50%]
Soul shard : Sun ray => Brown dwarf => White dwarf => Red sun
Lothea Rimuchi
Lothea Rimuchi Totals Estimated Regeneration Resistances
Vitality (Devil aura is not awakened/void aura is awakened) 120 Magical damage resistance: 20%
Stamina 130 Aura resistance: 15%
Endurance 15 Physical damage resistance: 15%
Mana capacity 400 4 mana/sec
Soul rank: Rank 3 (Intermediate soul augmenter)
Battle power estimation: Rank j-i (extraordinary rank 3 Devil)
Cursed Bloodline strengthening: This trait allows you to strengthen your bloodline by consuming the soul essence of other sentient beings. This is the cursed version, which will allow you to also use the soul essence of other devils to strengthen your bloodline. Abyssal touch: This trait allows you to insta-cast any darkness and fire based magic. Phoenix revival: This trait allows you to instantly heal your injuries at the cost of large amounts of mana. Black phoenix flame: This trait Allows you to fuse darkness and fire and allows you to insta-cast any darkness-fire fusion spells. Void-touched: This trait allows you to deal more damage by strengthening all your attacks with destructive void based energy within your aura. Everything that goes outside of your aura will lose this buff.
Race: Cursed Devil (100%) => [Devil = 50% ; Void touched = 50%]
Soul shard : Lesser abyssal phoenix => abyssal phoenix => Black abyssal phoenix => Black abyssal void phoenix
¡°Wow, you are really strong for a rank 3 soul augmenter!¡±, says Lothea in surprise, ¡°You only have a slime soul shard and managed to become so strong, I never have heard of anything like this before.¡± ¡°I rather not do it again though. While my experiment that merged my body with my soul shard gave me a lot of power, it was also quite risky and painful.¡±, I say to her. ¡°Yeah, I could guess that. I heard of experiments before, where they tried to bind their soul shard to their body for better efficiency, but they all ended in failure. It¡¯s honestly a miracle that you are still alive¡±, she says with rising curiosity. ¡°Okay, I see that everyone is in a group now!¡±, yells Miss lazula suddenly, which interrupts or conversation, ¡°You will all have a months¡¯ time to complete the task that has been given. If you are in trouble you can activate the spell talisman that each member of the group has been given, this will notify us and we will then come to help you as fast as possible. Asking for help in an impossible situation will not let you fail the test, if we see that you would die without our help than we will let you continue the test after taking care of the problem. That¡¯s all, good luck everyone!¡± I look at the princess and ask, ¡°Will it not be dangerous for you to go out into these forests? Isn¡¯t it the perfect opportunity for assassins to kidnap or kill you?¡± ¡°Not really, I have a talisman that can protect me against a fully powered strike of a rank 10 soul augmenter. I also have a spatial talisman that can teleport our whole group away within milliseconds if there is mortal danger. If there was someone that could still hurt us despite all these things, then he would have killed me a long time ago in the palace, because even my father wouldn¡¯t be able to stop such a strong assassin.¡±, says the princess with a reassuring smile. ¡°Okay, that¡¯s good to know¡±, I say to her while I sigh in relief, ¡°Let¡¯s get going! We only have a month to find enough resources in this beginner level forest, so we better hurry up.¡± We immediately dash, full of vigor, into the forest. The fainted racist prince gets dragged by his legs over the ground and dashes with a lot less vigor into the forest. Chapter 14 My spidey senses are tingling We start to make some team battle strategies while we run deeper into the forest. It¡¯s after all important that we choose our prey carefully and that we also, while battling, don¡¯t hinder each other. ¡°Almost all of us have fire based affinities with the exclusion of me, I can¡¯t resonate with the mana in the air since my soul shard is fused with my body. I¡¯m a pure physical fighter, which means I will play the role as tank and try to impede the enemies from reaching our long range casters. I use two two-handed swords because my strength is very high. I have also have a personalized strength augmentation skill that I can stack two times making me effectively the strongest of our group. I tested it out with the princess back at our school and we came to the conclusion that I¡¯m 2 times stronger than the princess. Even if we both use our full physical abilities with augmentation spells.¡±, I say to them. ¡°What you are stronger than Amina if she goes in fusion mode and uses dragonic strength and height?¡±, exclaims Lothea in wonder. ¡°yes, that is because I have perfect magic pathways. it¡¯s however impossible for normal people to have these perfect pathways, even after a correction surgery. These perfect pathways allow me to do perfect augmentation spell infusions, this increases the effectiveness of my spell by a 100 times. It seems that the boundary between perfection and almost perfection is something normal physical beings can¡¯t cross. I don¡¯t know why I was able to cross it, even if I made them artificially, tiny errors should still have occurred. The only explanation I have for this, is that a mythril slime has the highest affinity with magic of all soul beasts out there. This might have influenced and corrected the tiny errors the machine has made. But it¡¯s all still a theory though.¡±, I say with some pride in my voice. For once actually feeling happy at having a slime as soul shard. ¡°I will also fight as a tank.¡±, Says the princess suddenly interrupting my reverie. ¡°I will go as a caster, my phoenix abilities will also be useful for healing you guys.¡±, says Lothea with rising excitement in her voice. It seems that she is really looking forward to fight soul beasts. ¡°I will be a melee damage dealer. I can tank a lot of damage but my agility and overall set of abilities are more focused on burst damage in close range combat, so I will focus on that.¡±, says Melia with a smile. ¡°Ugh¡±, groans the crown prince, still feeling the pain of getting dragged over the ground for a few miles. ¡°I will be a caster too. My armor is only good for protecting my life because it makes me too slow for melee combat. My sunbeams will also work well for picking of targets from long distances.¡± It seems that a part of the fear the prince felt for Lothea has disappeared when she promised him that she wouldn¡¯t, probably, burn him alive. He can now walk with us without fainting. ¡°so we got two tanks, one support and ranged damage dealer hybrid, one pure ranged damage dealer and one close range damage dealer. We seem to be a fairly balanced team, even though we basically all have the same element.¡± ¡°hmm, I suggest we go south. There are less lakes, rivers and soul beasts with water affinity over there. The further we go south, the more plant based and insect life forms, which are weak to fire based magic, we will encounter. This is largely influenced by the proximity of the world tree of the elves. Who knows, we might see the world tree if we arrive at the black mountain range.¡±, I say to everyone while slowing down. ¡°From now on though, we should go at a steady but slowerpace. From here on out we can encounter rank 2 and rank 3 soul beast or other minority species of a similar rank. While not all of them will be hostile, we should still be careful.¡±, I caution everyone while looking ahead through the many trees.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. I also now have the time to appreciate the beauty of the forest, since we are going at a slower pace. Trees tower above us. Some of which stand up to 400 feet tall. Vines dangle down from the treetops. Different flowers, plants, mosses and glowing mushrooms take residence at the bottom of this forest. I can see small and non-magical insects crawl over the forest floor. I can see small and colorful birds fly from tree to tree. Green glowing spots, also known as spirits of the forest, can be seen floating around the larger trees. The floor we walk on is littered with greenery and branches that have broken off the trees. ¡®This is a truly magical place¡¯, I think while looking at the glowing mushrooms on the ground. However when I look up, I recoil and yell in shock, ¡°What the fuck! What the hell is that thing?!¡± I yell a bunch of profanities while scurrying back at the fastest speed possible. I saw the face of a spider, with the height of a grown man, right in front of me when I looked up. Having such a massive spider pop up in front of me, is not immediately the most appetizing thing to happen to myself. When I look back at my team mates, wondering why they didn¡¯t warn me, I can see them all laughing their asses of. ¡°Hahaha¡±, laughs Lothea, ¡°Did you see his face when he finally noticed that spider? Priceless, haha!¡± But she is not the only one laughing. Melia and the princess are both laughing too. The prince is also hysterically laughing. He¡¯s probably trying to laugh extra hard, just to spite me. Igomar is probably still angry at me for dragging Lothea in our team. ¡°Okay, okay enough! I get it!¡±, I say with a red face, ¡°I should have been paying attention to what was happening in front of me. I should also not freak out about a rank 1 spider beast.¡± They seem to not have heard me because they just keep laughing. The spider seems to get enraged that his supposed prey is not paying any attention to him. Rank 1 soul beast are generally quite stupid and have difficulties distinguishing how strong sentient life forms are. After all, the rule ¡®bigger is stronger¡¯ is instinctively seen as the general truth in the wilderness by most non-sentient lifeforms. I take out my two swords out of my spatial storage bag. They are both as big as me, namely six feet and tree inches. Both swords are massive hulking pieces of black iron. They are dull, but that doesn¡¯t matter, they were after all the cheapest swords that could withstand my full strength. They also have a massive weight of half a ton each. I activate two strength increasing spells in my body and stack them together when I infuse them in my flesh. The strength spells help me balance the weight of both swords. I lift both of them up and feel my feet slightly sinking into the soft ground. I set myself ready in a stance, ready to swing them down with full force. My team still seems too busy with laughing to see what is happening. The spider seems to activate an innate ability as its mandibles start to glow with an eerie green color. It presses it¡¯s body on the ground and jumps over me, seeming to try to get a better positioning. We both ready ourselves to strike now that there are no trees between us. The spider suddenly accelerates towards me. It approaches at a fast speed for a rank 1 soul beast. I can see his mandibles, overflowing with green glowing poisonous liquid, closing in on me. Then the spider jumps at me to close in the remaining distance between us as fast as possible. While it¡¯s speed is fast for its rank, it¡¯s still nowhere near mine. I swing both swords from my back to my front with the right timing. I inject some extra mana in my strength increasing spell to get an extra burst of strength, which also passively increases my swing speed. The spider seems to realize at the last moment that he might not be my match, but it¡¯s too late. My swords are both already right in front of its face and leaves it no time to dodge. I viciously slam the spider back into the ground with my full strength. I slam my swords so hard into the ground that a crater forms itself in front of me. The spider itself got slammed down with such a huge force that its entire body liquefies and gets blasted away from me, due to the shockwave originating from my swords. Following this, I hear screams coming from in front of me. ¡°Eeeeew! What is this gooey mess?¡±, screams the princess in disgust. When I look up I see that the entire team, with exception of me, covered in some green-black slime which was probably the spider I killed. They are all screaming in disgust at the gooey feel and revolting stench that comes from the liquid. When they look at me in anger, I say with the most malicious grin I can foster, ¡°Woops, my bad.¡± Chapter 15 Feeling antsy ¡°I won¡¯t help you refine your weapons and armor anymore if you do something like this again¡±, says the princess while pouting. ¡°Sorry Amina, I didn¡¯t do it intentionally.¡± I scratch the back of my head in embarrassment. ¡°I know, but you shouldn¡¯t have had such a gloating expression when you looked at us.¡±(Amina) ¡°Couldn¡¯t we just say that we are even now? You guys had a good laugh with me and I had a good laugh with you.¡± (Sieg) ¡°Hmph, fine. I will forgive you this once, but I will make you regret it if something like this happens again.¡±, says the princess with a frowning expression. Let¡¯s hope she forgets about this incident, because It would be really hard for me to find a decent weapon if the princess doesn¡¯t help with the final refinement. You see, dragons and humans with a dragonic bloodline have a massive amount of strength. However, the problem with such massive strength is that it is difficult to find weapons that can fully display this kind of power. The most important thing is that your weapon is heavy enough. The heavier your weapon is, the more damage you can do with it. Of course the weapon also needs to have a certain size. If the weapon is too small, it will become too easy to avoid for enemies. If the weapons is too large, than the enemies will see where your weapon will land before you are even really starting to swing it. In other words, you need a weapon from a material that has just the right density to create a somewhat large weapon with a decent amount of mass. However, swinging such massive and heavy weapons is quite the chore. You need special stances to disperse the weight of the weapon and keep it all in balance with your body. The royal family found however an alternative to these stances that doesn¡¯t use mana but consumes the power of the dragon aura you emit. While it does take some of the pressure of the aura you emit away, it will give you a massive advantage in the long run. The royals infuse their weapons with an aura spell circle. These kind of spell circles consumes aura to function. The spell circle the royals created is called ¡®Forced Balance Gravitational Spell¡¯. Quite the mouthful, but it aptly describes what it does. It makes it so that, in whatever position you swing your weapon, you will always be able to use your full strength without losing balance. This spell does however in no way change the weight of the weapon, it just makes it so that you can¡¯t fall down from your own swings with the weapon. Outside forces can still knock you down because the spell is not made to compensate for something like that. It feels a bit weird to use these kinds of weapons at first, because it goes against what you would expect that will happen, but two months of non-stop training helped a lot with this problem. The two massive swords is use do not only have a wide striking range, but also great cutting ability. While the edge is not incredibly sharp, the sheer weight of the weapon makes up for that. That is because if all the kinetic force from both your swing and the weight of the weapon gets concentrated on a single edge, than it comes as no surprise that it will cut through wood or exoskeletons of insects. Which is exactly the type of monsters you will encounter in a forest. The princess is the only one besides me that also uses a weapon. That is because The prince and Lothea are both spellcasters and don¡¯t really use any weapons. Melia has an ability that allows her to condense her own weapons, making a physical weapon obsolete for her. The princess however uses a massive mace to hit her enemies, which is great against metal based armor and softer targets. She also uses a spatial storage bag to store her weapon in. These special bags allow us to carry things with massive weight as if they were weightless. It allows you to store things into a different dimension, which negates the weight of what you are carrying. The only restriction that these bags have, is that they have a limited space available. The bags of me and the princess are already full with our weapons, however the others still have empty ones that we can use as storage for the materials we need to find to complete the practical exam.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°So, which way will we go?¡±, asks Lothea suddenly. ¡°Hmm, I think we should take the Ravine of Fire Ants. They are easy to kill and our elemental affinity will help us negate their attacks. They are all between rank 1 and 2 with exception of the queen and king ant. The king is rank 3 and even though the queen is immobile, her power output rivals those of a strong rank 4 soul augmenter. The carapaces of these ants contain mythril and black iron essence. Both of these materials are worth a lot. We can refine those carapaces with our fire magic to burn away the organic material. This way, we will be able to deliver purified mythril and black iron essence. We should get halfway done with the test by just exterminating the Fire ant fortress in the ravine.¡±, suggests Melia in a calm and calculating tone. ¡°Lothea, do you have any blessings that can grant me extra resistance against fire based attacks? My affinities are still locked unlike with you guys. Fusing my soul shard with my body prevents me from using any magic outside of my body and my dragon aura is already getting used by my swords, so I can¡¯t release any fire based mana to protect myself.¡± (Sieg) ¡°Hmm, I do have something like that. I can clad you in phoenix flames that I control. If I do this, I should be able to negate some of the incoming fire damage for you.¡± (Lothea) ¡°Will you still be able to use spells that way?¡±, I ask Lothea with some concern. ¡°It should be no problem, I can cast three different spells at the same time. One for you to keep the fire from hurting you, one to heal the injured and one for attacking the ants.¡± (Lothea) ¡°Hah, I would expect no less from the daughter of the principal. You are a real genius magician.¡±, says the princess while sighing. She can only use one spell at the same time. ¡°I can use up to three body augmentation spells, is that similar?¡±, I ask everyone. Lothea looks at me in surprise and says, ¡°Yes, that is quite similar. Even though it is easier to control mana in your body, that doesn¡¯t make casting multiple spells that much easier. I would say that you are somewhat on my level when it comes to mana-control and spell casting. Maybe a bit less, but not by much. That is quite the feet for a human.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m not really human anymore though.¡±, I say to Lothea. ¡°It¡¯s still quite rare for any entity at rank 3 to be able to cast 3 spells at the same time. But why don¡¯t you use three spells? You could use 3 different body augmentation spells to prevent an augmentation overload from harming your body which happens when you stack too many of the same spells on top of each other.¡± (Lothea) ¡°That is because that, even though my body is a lot stronger than it used to be, infusing 3 spells in my flesh at the same time will still harm me physically. After all three different spells working at the same time will cause the mana in my body to get entangled into an indecipherable chaos. This will also break down the three spells that I¡¯m using at that time. My body is too small to allow three magic circles to form inside of me without them interfering with each other.¡±, I say with a grimace after thinking of the day when I tried doing that. ¡°But, enough about this. What should we do? It¡¯s already getting late and we should set up camp for the night. We can also travel some more to reach the ravine and set up camp there, so that we can immediately enter the fire ant ravine when we wake up the next day.¡± (Sieg) ¡°I suggest we set up camp here. The chance is too big that the ants will notice us and attack us during the night if we set up camp so close to them.¡±, says the prince. ¡°I agree with Igy, it¡¯s too dangerous to set up camp there. We should search for a river where we can get some water to wash ourselves and boil some water to make soup. The dried meat is a bit too bland to just eat it with a slice of bread.¡± (Amina) ¡°Okay, I will look for some edible plants to make soup of!¡±, says Melia with a smile. ¡°There should be a small clearing in the forest a few miles ahead of us, according to this map.¡±, says Igomar while pointing at a certain direction further south. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go! We should be able to get there before sunset.¡±, I say to everyone as we depart at the fastest speed we can muster.