Chapter 12: Chapter 12 – Prologue Arc

On the following day, I wake up early as always.

'Today is the day, I'll ask for permission from mother!'

'This past week has been quite a blessing towards resting, haven't felt my body so light like now for a while.'

I go pee then shower and then wear a green dress.

'Mother loves to see me in dresses.'

I head towards the living room and find her.

"Good morning mother," I bow while raising my dress skirt as skilfully as I can.

"Good morning daughter, that was flawless."

I smiled at her and said, "I did learn with the best!"

'I had some etiquette lessons in my past life and it was pretty similar to this world customary.'

'Despite we being peasants mother and father have strong connections to very important nobles.'

'Father works in a potion shop, and due to his past and light element, he heals the prince's friends.'

'Thanks to that he has never publicized the fact that he has a daughter since it could put me at risk.'

'There are many political factions in the kingdom who seek to raise in status.'

'Around 800 high noble families are attempting to reach the pinnacle of nobility.'

'Personally, I don't know much about it.' 

'Once I'm able to enter the guild adventurer gaining more freedom, I'll start leveling up my system library skill.'

'Then I'll start checking for political books about Lumen kingdom.'

"Mother, I'd like your permission to enter the adventurer's guild."

Upon hearing my words her proud happy smile turned into a serious expression.

"I told you, you'd have to beat me in a spar for that," she said rigidly and coldly.

"Sure," I smile happily as I always do.

I head towards the exit.

'Does she really think she can beat me?' Rosaline thought to herself confused.

'It seems like scaring her didn't work.'

A few moments later, we face each other face to face while holding the usual wooden swords we use to train with.

Being 10 meters apart mother starts running towards me to get the first strike in.

As she gets closer I freeze the ground beneath her where she's going to step next.

Notice: 50 mana has been deducted.

 

She loses her footing, losing balance and I strike her body making her fall.

I smile at her innocently.

Mother gets up upset and starts running at me this time I see her expression upset and she charges mana.

I throw my sword in her direction and freeze her feet to the ground, then dash at her as she parries my sword back.

Notice: 30 mana has been deducted.

Notice: The Skill Ice Bind has been acquired.

 

Mother lets out a moan of pain due to the ice.

'My first active Ice skill!?'

Without losing focus I grab the sword that is thrown back at me then run around her to strike her on a blind spot.

She screams and breaks the ice with pure raw strength, and then charges at me with her lunge skill.

With one hand I strike and the other I sneak some ice under her freezing the ground.

Notice: 100 mana has been deducted.

 

Realizing this typical trick of mine she jumps over the ice and I dash to it sliding under her.

I quickly get up and turn around grabbing the wooden sword with both hands, then I use the skill mana coat to cover it with an aura.

Notice: 100 mana has been deducted.

 

The sword starts shining and in response mother covers her own sword with mana.

'I'll go serious and scare mother,' I increase the mana coat with 400 more mana.

Notice: 400 mana has been deducted.

 

'This is my trick in the sleeve that mother doesn't know I've acquired.'

We dash at each other and as our swords collide, hers falls on the ground cut in half and then I shout," mana wave!"

A wave made of mana flies towards the ground without hitting her creating a long slice in the ground.

I fall on my knees exhausted from using almost all my mana.

Mother has a dumbfounded expression as she sees that I could have sliced her in half.

"What in the hell was that Iris!?"

"That was mana wave mother, a skill the opposite of mana coat, I learned it by overcharging mana in the mana coat to see what would happen."

"Then when I sliced, the mana went on cutting a part of a tree."

"Daughter you're actually insane for trying random things like that, you could've gotten yourself hurt."

"I was careful, but I can't help but be curious and try new things to become stronger, I still find myself too weak."

She puts herself on her knees and hugs me, "you're not weak at all dear, if you wanted you could've defeated me with that one strike, I wasn't aware of it."

"That's what I'm good at, surprising you," I laugh.

Mother started laughing upon hearing those words.

"Dear, you shouldn't use that skill in real combat as it seems to consume too much mana."

"Why?"

"If you do that you won't have more mana if you need, so you should learn how to control that skill first as well as mana coat."

"Okay, mother I will!"

"The higher the level the more power you'll be able to use, but your mana control will have to keep up with it."

"That's why your dad has made you try a lot of exercises to increase your control above all else firstly."

"It is more important to have control over power since if you use it in a fight and use this amazing skill that absorbs your mana it can also absorb your health cuz it went out of control."

"Then you can get easily killed and that would backfire dear."

"You're right mother, I'll be careful and train both things as much as I can."

"Good girl," she pats my hair.

"Also that ice skill you used to freeze my feet, if you put more power into it, it should be able to freeze strong creatures."

"You think?"

"Yes dear, you might even freeze them whole if needed, I feel like the reason you took so long to learn ice skills was because you're scared of hurting others."

"Well..."

'Now that mother mentions it, it could indeed be the issue...'

"I didn't want to hurt you and only when I hurt you that I did receive a skill, Ice bind."

"Unlike dad's healing and protecting light magic, yours is both defensive and offensive, like how you could possibly make an ice wall to protect yourself  from an enemy skill."

"That sounds cool! I could block a fireball!"

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"Yes baby, but while the wall is defending you, finding ways to attack your opponent while he's busy destroying it is a must, otherwise the wall melts and his next skills will hurt you."

"A lot to learn and try, I have to be creative!"

"Exactly Iris and things will become harder when you learn the darkness element, the possibilities of what you can do will surely increase!"

"The unique dark element... If I truly have it then surely I'd have some interesting skills to try."

"Seeing as you've come this far allow me to tell you a story of when I was a little older than you."

We move a bit to the side and then sit in front of each other.

"20 years ago, when I was fifteen, ended up wandering around the city where I casually found an old man with ragged clothes on."

"He looked extremely poor even though a sword was next to him which at the time was the only thing of value with him."

"As I was passing by him, he spoke to me and asked if I could give him some money to buy food, and out of sympathy I bought him some food."

"He thanked me and then I left, later that day after being declined by several dojo's, I ended up going towards the last one on the list."

"One that did not belong to any noble family, back then when I saw the dojo for the first time it looked cheap, it was just next to a small house, it looked very... simple and old."

"Since I had nothing to lose I went inside of it and there ended up meeting the man I offered food early that day."

"He was teaching a girl named Sylvia who later I got to know was the same age as me, and eventually we became good friends."

"However, after spending some time training with them, I realized the disparity between the two of us."

"The teacher had accepted to teach me out of the kindness he received that day, as he only selected the most talented disciples!"

"While he polished the basic swordsmanship I had, the one I taught you that still has a long way to go, and in the future, you may even learn with him if you'd like to follow the path of the sword."

"To my friend Sylvia, he taught very advanced swordsmanship, some of it that to this day I completely gave up trying to learn, however, I sparred daily with Sylvia."

"Thanks to that I learned how to mana coat, in other words, infusing mana into the sword creating an aura around it which was what you displayed today but that mana wave you did I believe it should either be a medium or an advanced swordsmanship skill, a truly prodigious one."

"Does that mean... I'm actually proficient enough to perhaps have a chance to take this path of the sword you mentioned mother?"

"Yes, baby daughter, I do believe so," we smile at each other.

After discussing a lot of possibilities after the story, we head inside the house to rest.

Once we arrive we drink some water and sit on the sofa.

"Regarding the adventurer's guild you're allowed to take the exam, I'll write a letter that has my approval."

"Do I have to duel dad too?"

"No silly daughter, he's not even the offensive type, but I'm sure he'd manage to beat you."

"What? How?" I ask confused as I didn't expect that since my mother is stronger than him.

"Let's just say he's tricky like you."

"That does make me want to try."

"You sound like a battle maniac, Iris."

"A what?"

"Is what we call people that love to duel others, and well fight in general."

"Oh... I guess I have fun fighting!"

"People with the sense of wanting to become stronger usually do."

"If you'd like you can go to the adventurer's guild later today and take the exam."

With sparkling eyes, I say," I'd love to!"

Mother gets up and writes a letter.

Once she's done, she gives me the paper," here you go, make sure you recover your mana first."

"Okay mother," I head to bed to rest a bit.

 

※※※

 

Every year a tournament in the Lumen kingdom is made.

The top 10 candidates out of all the participants get to win a recommendation letter signed by the king.

The letter allows the candidate choice to become sponsored by the king itself, in other words, it becomes free and a way for peasants to join.

With it, one can enter either the battle academia that is usually for nobles only, where they can learn martial arts.

There's also a magic institute where one can learn from the best teachers in the kingdom.

Only children from 7 to 15 years can enter the annual tournament, as 16 years and above, their considered young adults.

Above 15 the noble family usually have their kids marry other families for power rise since it's the legal time for marriage.

The tournament is regulated with a stone similar to the adventurer’s guild stone, in other words, they can confirm the age of the individual.

There are also the royal guards who reside by the king since it is an event provided by his grace.

There are also the mages who stop the combats if they get out of hand, in order to avoid casualties.

That's the reason why the age permitted goes as down as 7 years since it's relatively safe.

There are usually 1 or 2 heavily injured participants at most and normally no deaths in these tournaments.

Iris's parents aren't nobles, they live on the south border of the Lumen kingdom, they're not essentially poor.

However, the price to study in the battle academia or the magic institute is truly expensive, therefore, mostly nobles study there.

The recommendation letter can also be used in two more places although the winners generally don't go for them.

One is the adventurer’s guild where they start in a higher rank than usual skipping the easy F and E ranks.

The other is the church where they usually become either a priest or a paladin.

It is one of the few events where the strongest four forces of the Lumen kingdom join together to watch the new talents.

The king, his children, and the royal guards where the strongest swordsman resides.

The Pope and the Saintess along with their elite paladins and priests where they recruit strong people.

There's also the man who is known as the strongest magician of Lumen who is the head of the magic institute.

Lastly, the adventurer’s guild master, who is one of the strongest martial artists of the kingdom.

 

※※※ 

Point of view Saintess.

 

'That nightmare again... where an army in black comes to destroy our Lumen kingdom. It's been 8 years since I've had it.'

'Since it has now happened twice, it is not a dream but a premonition that my heritage skill Oracle has shown me.'

'I inherited this skill from my mother the past Saintess.'

'Forever I've lived inside this chapel in the name of the Goddess Aria yet I haven't received any message from her about this premonition.'

'I'm worried, as much as I don't care about my job, I do care about my life thus I can only pray for the goddess to aid us.'

'That man, Kraus the Pope, has been doing his best to recruit talented martial artists and mages with rare elements to increase our power.'

'For the day the invasion happens is to come, we must bolster our forces while we can.'

'I've been going to every annual tournament to recruit new soldiers for our cause, however, not many of the top winners are interested in us.'

'Even the ones below the top 10 didn't want to join us due to the church being a very secluded and strict force.'

'Unlike the royalty, we don't pay the soldiers as much money as we're not as wealthy.'

'On top of that, we're very strict with our doctrines and duties towards serving the Goddess Aria.'

'We're a religious bunch I know, I personally am not happy with my job, but if it wasn't for it, and my mother...'

'Certainly, the generations in the past from the kingdom of Lumen wouldn't have survived as long as they did.'

She looks at the mirror in front of her sighing,' being the Saintess sure is tough.'

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