Chapter 200. The Beginning of a Plan (9)

Rays of light gathered in Desir’s hand before transforming into a petal-shaped hairpin tinged with blue.

No one could take their eyes off the beautiful blue hue and the elegant design. It was truly a beautiful hairpin.

“It’s an artifact called the Blue Rose.” Desir handed it to Romantica. “Take it, Romantica.”

“Are you giving it to me? R-Really?” “Try putting it on.”

No matter how many times she looked at it, it was beautiful. Romantica examined it thoroughly before putting it on.

“Injecting mana will activate its ability.”

As soon as Desir finished talking, Romantica injected her mana into the hairpin. And soon, her body started disappearing as if she was a drawing that was getting erased.

A moment later, Romantica emerged behind Desir. She had moved right in front of their eyes, but no one had picked up on her movements.

“It’s invisibility magic that hides your presence. Not only will your appearance and the sounds you make be hidden, but so will the flow of your mana. This will prevent you from being caught by detection magic. It’ll be very helpful to you as you support from the rear.” Romantica absolutely loved both its ability and design.

“… … Thank you so much Desir.”

Romantica tried not to show it, but she couldn’t hide the smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

Desir, who had been watching her with a warm smile, took out the second artifact.

As the dimensional pocket activated, a pair of leather boots materialized in front of Desir. They were painted in a stylish checkered pattern.

“This artifact is a pair of boots, they’re called the Cloud Walkers. They allow you to instantly teleport short distances up to a meter away.”

“They’ll be useful for those in the vanguard.”

Just from Desir’s short explanation, Adjest had figured out who would benefit most from the artifact.

Short-distance teleportation was useful even to magicians fighting from long distances during critical situations, but it was even more useful to swordsmen who needed to move around quickly.

“I picked them since they’re a very useful artifact, but I haven’t decided who to give it to yet. They could be helpful for all of you.”

Desir took it out and looked back and forth between Adjest and Pram. “But in Pram’s case, I already have another present for you, so… … ” “You don’t have to give it to me for the sake of being fair.”

Adjest spoke.

“The artifact will be more useful to Pram, as he’s a pure swordsman. If Pram is okay with it, I’m willing to give it to him.”

“Is that really okay with you?”

Adjest nodded slightly at the sword on her belt. “It’s fine since I already have the Center of Ice.”

With Adjest’s generous decision to yield the artifact, Pram became the owner of the Cloud Walkers.

“Thank you so much, Ms. Adjest. And thank you so much Mr. Desir for the nice gift.” Thanking the two, Pram put the boots on immediately.

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Once he put them on, the boots shrunk to fit Pram snugly.

The Cloud Walkers were an artifact that was activated on command. *Zooom*

Pram activated them a couple of times. His body teleported about a meter away each time. Even with continuous usage, there was almost no delay between activations.

It was a great artifact that was very versatile, but there was one problem.

Once he had used the Cloud Walkers a few times, Pram figured out their limitations. “… … They can only be used up to five times in a row.”

After a while, the Cloud Walkers regained their ability. “But I’m sure it’ll be useful in battle.”

With that, the second present had been taken care of.

Desir looked around at his party members before speaking.

“The two artifacts I gave you and the one that I’ll be using are the three artifacts that I was allocated for joining the Royal Guards.”

“The title of Royal Guards is respected greatly for a reason… … to give them free access to three artifacts, none of them being low-tier, is unbelievable.”

At Pram’s exclamation, Desir chuckled.

“This isn’t the end of it. She should be on her way by now… … ” “Pardon?”

Pram was starting at Desir in confusion, wondering what else could be coming, when he got his answer.

“Nice to meet you all.”

A woman suddenly opened the door and entered the office. She gave a slight wave of her hand, indifferent to the bewilderment of the others.

As the party members’ gazes turned back to him, Desir’s mouth curled up.

“Let me introduce her to you. This is Sir Swan Katarina, who holds the position of the bow within the Royal Guards. Sir Swan, these are my party members.”

“Mm, sure. They seem well trained.”

Showing no particular interest, Swan flopped down next to Desir. ‘No surprise she finds it bothersome.’

Despite being busy with her personal work, Swan had come to fulfill Desir’s request. “So which one’s Pram Schneider?”

“He’s the one sitting at the far right.” “The far right… … hmm? Ehh?”

As her gaze moved towards where Desir was pointing to, Swan sprang up from her seat with an unintelligible scream.

Her indifferent attitude from moments ago was nowhere to be found, and her eyes burned with passion.

“Desir. When you ask for a favor, you mustn’t leave out the most important information.” “… … Excuse me?”

Swan slowly approached Pram.

“For real, I thought this would be a hassle, but had I known he was such a cute kid, I would’ve come more prepared.”

Pram felt a chill run down his body. He trembled. *Whoosh*

It happened in a flash. “Can I bite your cheeks?”

Swan, who had approached Pram from behind at some point, spoke in a sweet voice. “Excuse me!?”

“Fufufu. I’m just kidding. You’re so cute even when you’re embarrassed.” She almost looked like a cat playing with a mouse.

As Pram sat there flustered, Romantica approached Desir. “Is that person really a Royal Guard?”

“Well, for now… … ” “What a letdown… … ”

Romantica was visibly disappointed.

The Royal Guards’ accomplishments were well-known, even outside the Empire through the various media platforms. Through that, she had been harboring an idealistic view of them. Her fantasy had been utterly destroyed though.

“So why is she here?”

“Sir Swan will be coming here frequently, for the time being, to train Pram.” Swan Katarina’s teachings. That was the present Desir had prepared for Pram. “… … !”

Seemingly having overheard Desir and Romantica’s conversation, the color in Pram’s face drained as he soon looked as white as a sheet.

* * *

The next day, at the training hall.

Pram and Swan were readying themselves and entering into their respective stances. Pram held a wooden sword while Swan circled around, eyeing him up and down.

“Oh adorable Pram. Nice to meet you again. As you already know, I’ll be teaching you from now on.”

Pram anxiously looked around. Noticing his nervous gaze, Swan smiled.

“Desir asked me to train you for a week, but I’ve decided to help you until you reach the Bishop Class. Fufu. I look forward to working with you.”

“… … ”

Pram thought she was an extremely scary woman. The sight of her eyeing him like prey was enough to send a chill down his back.

But her skills were guaranteed.

Desir had barely managed to arrange this opportunity. Despite every bone in Pram’s body telling him to run and hide, his faith in Desir remained resolute, and he decided to train diligently.

“So we’re going to go straight into training how to control your aura, but before that, do you have any questions?”

As Pram nodded, Swan gestured at him to start talking.

“Professor Hersaint-Blanc who previously taught me said that one can only become a Bishop on their own. So how will you be teaching me?”

Swan, who had been smiling mischievously just moments ago, suddenly turned serious.

“I’m not exactly teaching you to help you become a Bishop. However, there must be some hints you can get from me.”

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Accepting her explanation, Pram nodded.

“To reach the Bishop Class, you must first learn how to control your aura in your own way. This isn’t a skill that can be taught to you by others, or copied from someone. Should we first start off lightly with some theory?”

Swan put out her hand.

“There are several basic ways to control aura, and that depends on the individual. One of the most common ways to do so is through reinforcement. It not only enhances attack by surrounding the body, but it also protects you. A prime example of this is Donape Aslan from the Northern region.”

Pram had once watched Donape fighting in person.

Adjest and Donape’s battle.

Even after Adjest’s attacks, he had emerged unscathed. And whenever he swung his axe, the ground itself even trembled.

“Another method is through materialization. It’s a way to embody the aura through various objects. As a prime example, we have Sword Grand Master Raphaello Cheringer who summons wheels with his aura.”

Pram had never seen Raphaello in action, but he had seen swordsmen who materialized their aura.

Sword Grand Master Kei Hazumaryoon.

The flower of aura that he would summon seemed to still glimmer in his mind’s eye. ‘Aura flower.’

A technique that embodied aura in the form of a flower.

“For now those are the two most basic forms. Other than those two, aura can be used in other forms depending on the individual. In my case, I focus on accumulating aura.” ‘Accumulate?’

Unable to understand, Pram tilted his head. “I’ll show you.”

Swan picked up a small pebble and tossed it towards the floor. *BANG*

The pebble struck the floor, creating a tremendous explosion. A massive hole appeared on the training hall’s floor.

It was an incredible amount of power that couldn’t have possibly been caused by a small pebble.

‘She charged a mere pebble with that much aura?’ Pram couldn’t help but be aghast at Swan’s ability.

“Well, since there are so many ways to control aura, you have no choice but to look for the one that works for you to reach Bishop Class.”

Swan’s teachings had been a significant help to Pram. Through them, he was able to organize the experiences he had gone through without realizing what was going on around him.

He felt like he had progressed towards his goal. However, her hint didn’t end with a simple explanation.

“Now, raise your sword. Afterall, swordsmen train through battles. Isn’t that right?” “Yes!”

At Pram’s excited answer, Swan smiled and pulled out a dagger.

“Those who have reached King Class sometimes control their aura in several ways. And I can handle my aura in three ways. Use this battle with me as experience.”

“… … !”

“No reason to be surprised. I’m one of the few King Class individuals in this continent. Isn’t that much a given? Be thankful that you have the chance to battle someone as powerful as me.”

“Th-Thank you.”

“Send your gratitude to Desir for making this opportunity, instead of me.” Pram felt truly grateful towards Desir.

At first, he was a tad reluctant about undertaking this training, but thinking about it, this was a really big opportunity for him.