Three days had passed, and Lucian and Liyara were utterly exhausted.
Lucian was extremely annoyed.
"Damn, this giant..."
He tried to attack Vaelor, wielding his metal sword.
When he approached Vaelor, he swung his sword with all his might.
CLANG!
Lucian felt frustration again when he saw that his sword had no effect on Vaelor's incredibly tough armor.
Lucian was stunned when Vaelor kicked him with such force that he was sent flying.
His body slammed into a tree, and he vomited blood.
"Hrrk!"
Seeing this, Liyara immediately attacked Vaelor.
"Mana [Wood Snake]!"
Suddenly, wooden spikes emerged from beneath the ground where Vaelor was standing, coiling around his legs like snakes.
Seeing this, Liyara was delighted, so she used her Mana to create a bow and fired arrow after arrow at Vaelor.
But all of Liyara's attacks had no effect on Vaelor, and suddenly, Vaelor let out an incredibly loud roar.
"RHAAAA!!!"
Mana burst from Vaelor's body, the [wood snake] was destroyed, and Liyara was forced to retreat.
Liyara was shocked when Vaelor suddenly appeared in front of her and kicked her in the stomach.
Liyara almost lost consciousness due to the strength of Vaelor's kick, and she too was sent flying, slamming her body into a tree.
Seeing that both Lucian and Liyara had fallen, Vaelor sighed.
"Now, you need to heal first and come up with a new strategy to fight me!"
He began to walk away.
"W-WAIT!!"
Vaelor stopped in his tracks when he heard a shout from behind him, so he turned to see who it was.
He saw Lucian, injured but still trying to stand, and Vaelor sighed.
"It's better if you just heal, Prince. If the Queen sees you in that state, she'll definitely be angry."
But Lucian only smiled.
"Why worry about her getting angry? It's my body!"
He immediately attacked.
"RAAAHH!"
Seeing this, Vaelor sighed.
"Sigh… You really are stubborn, Prince."
Vaelor ran at incredible speed toward Lucian, and Lucian was shocked to see Vaelor suddenly right in front of him.
Vaelor grabbed Lucian's neck with his left hand and held his head with his right hand, releasing Mana from his hands.
"It's better if you just sleep for now."
Lucian was stunned, as darkness gradually crept into his vision.
"Damn… I feel dizzy..."
Until finally, Lucian completely lost consciousness...
....
He woke up in a lavish room, looking around and noticing that this was not his room.
"Where am I?!"
He looked beside him and was shocked to see Liyara, lying there, fast asleep.
Realizing that he was not in his own room, Lucian sighed and began to stand from his lying position.
He looked out the window of his room and saw that it was morning.
"Hmm… So I lost consciousness until morning?"
Lucian immediately left the room. Upon stepping outside, he looked around and sighed.
"Even now, I still get lost in this palace."
He saw a maid passing by and quickly asked,
"Hey… Which way to the courtyard?"
The maid was startled by Lucian's sudden question.
"P-Prince?!"
A few minutes later, Lucian was finally in the vast courtyard of the mansion, accompanied by the maid.
"What's your name?" Lucian asked.
The maid introduced herself.
"My name is Luna."
Lucian smiled and looked at Luna, noticing Mana in her body.
"Tell me, do you already have a Mana Core?"
Luna was shocked by the question but nodded.
"Y-Yes… I have Mana… It suddenly appeared in my body when I was a child."
Hearing this, Lucian was surprised, because he had read in a book that those who are born with Mana are called special talents, and they are the most sought after by the Academy.
Lucian smiled and asked Luna,
"Are you new as a maid? I just met you today."
Luna nodded.
"Yes… I'm just a beginner. I was accepted as a maid in the palace only today."
"Do you want to become strong? And enter the Academy?"
Luna was greatly surprised by the question.
"Y-YES!!! I really want to enter the Academy, but the problem is I have no money, and my family is poor," she said sadly.
Seeing this, Lucian smiled.
"Do you want to train with me?"
Hearing this, Luna was puzzled.
"But… I'm a maid. I'm not allowed to disobey orders!"
Lucian immediately spoke.
"Then… do you want to become my personal guardian? Because that's the only way to enter the Academy."
Luna was extremely surprised by what she heard.
"M-Make… a personal guardian??"
Lucian nodded.
"Yes, become my personal guardian."
"B-But… only Royal Knights are allowed to become personal guardians!"
Hearing this, Lucian sighed.
"Okay… I'll find a way."
He thought of his mother.
'Hopefully, she will allow it.'
Luna was staring at Lucian in surprise
"How can a child only seven years old speak like that?"
A few minutes later, lucian was training tirelessly, running around the vast palace courtyard.
"Hngh… Hah… Hah… Hah…"
Finally, Lucian stopped running and lay down.
"Hah… Hah… Hah!!"
"I've already run 5 km."
Lucian was shocked when he noticed a recovery potion placed beside him.
"I don't need that, Luna!"
But a voice spoke.
"Just drink it!"
Lucian froze, as the voice was different.
He looked and saw his mother, expressionless, staring at him.
Lucian was extremely surprised and immediately sat up.
"M-Mom?"
Celestya smiled.
"Drink it quickly!"
But Lucian refused.
"If I drink that, my training will be pointless."
Hearing this, Celestya smiled, remembering how Ember used to scold him whenever he drank a recovery potion after training.
She smiled.
"Okay, I won't force you."
Lucian was surprised when a sword appeared in his mother's hands. Celestya handed the sword to Lucian.
"Take this… I will train you."
Hearing this, Lucian became interested and immediately took the sword, standing up.
"What training will we do, Mother?"
Celestya smiled.
"The first training you need is to strengthen your mentality."
Lucian was puzzled.
"If that's the case… what should I do?"
Lucian was stunned when Celestya projected her presence, and he saw her Mana gradually taking the shape of a Phoenix.
Lucian knelt down, overwhelmed by the strength of his mother's presence,
and he stabbed the sword into the ground, holding onto it to prevent himself from collapsing completely.
Celestya watched Lucian, expressionless, struggling.
"You need to endure this for three hours."
Lucian was shocked.
"THREE HOURS?.."
He froze in place as Celestya intensified her presence.
He immediately collapsed.
'Damn… She's so strong.'
Celestya was impressed that Lucian managed to withstand her presence for three minutes.
Now, Lucian lay collapsed, panting from exhaustion.
"Five minutes of rest, and then you must endure my presence again!"
Hearing this, Lucian was annoyed.
"You're so annoying, Mom… I need to rest too!"
But Celestya became serious.
"If you don't get up… I will punish you. Your punishment is that you cannot leave your room for ten years."
Hearing this, Lucian immediately stood.
"Okay… I want to start again!"
Celestya was surprised to see the determination on Lucian's face.
"You want to become strong too?"
Lucian nodded.
"Yes… In the future, I promise that I will become the strongest in this world! So I don't want to experience the punishment you just mentioned!"
In his mind, Lucian thought,
'Damn… Ten years?'
He felt fear, knowing Celestya's reputation for never joking about her punishments.
Celestya was surprised by what she heard but smiled.
She looked at Lucian seriously.
"Then, because you want to become the strongest, you must surpass me, because I am the strongest person right now."
Lucian was shocked.
"A-What? You are the strongest person now?"
Celestya smiled and projected her presence again.
Lucian had no choice but to endure his mother's presence once more.
Meanwhile, Liyara had woken up from sleep and looked beside her.
She noticed that Lucian was no longer beside her.
"So… Lucian has already left."
She immediately stood up to head to the palace courtyard to train. Upon leaving her room, she saw Luna passing by.
Liyara noticed the maid smiling.
"Hmm… Why is she smiling?"
But she didn't dwell on it and continued walking toward the courtyard.
While walking, she remembered how she had been knocked down by a single attack.
"Tch… I never imagined there could be someone that strong."
Liyara wondered,
"Wait… Are Vaelor and my Dad equally strong?"
But she was annoyed at her own thoughts.
"Impossible!!… Dad has thousands of years of experience. It's impossible for him to be defeated by Vaelor, who is probably only 60 years old."
Yet she thought again.
"I've noticed… Humans live up to 100 years, while we elves live 1,000 years or longer."
"... "
"But why were humans with only 50 years of experience able to defeat elves with 500 years of experience?"
Liyara sighed.
"Is it true… that humans really have more potential?"
But she was frustrated by her thoughts.
"Damn… IMPOSSIBLE!!"
When she reached the courtyard, she froze upon seeing Lucian kneeling, with Celestya standing casually in front of Lucian.
Liyara felt immense fear as she sensed the ancient Phoenix presence of Celestya.