R1 - 5 Aftermath

"And that's what happened"

The butler who returned with the sulking Stephanie who was healed by a healer magician was currently reporting what happened just recently to the Patriarch Noah, hearing this Noah was disappointed at his daughter who was praised for her magical talent by her teacher only to fail to cast a single spell during a duel.

"Hmph! If it wasn't for his luck that I was too excited to deal with him, then I would have already burnt him to crisp!" Stephanie yelled out a reason to cover up for her amateur mistake most magicians make during their first conflict, although it was expected but it was still disappointing considering her status.

"Quiet" Noah said with a tone loud enough for her to hear causing Stephanie to turn silent.

"No need to being so strict father"

"Trevor..." Noah turned to look at Trevor who was the twin brother of Stephanie, but unlike Stephanie who had a temper, Trevor was calm and calculating.

"You should understand that both me and sister are still recovering from losing mother, so it is only natural such things tend to happen. Please be lenient with her, I will also help" Trevor said with a kind smile, but the words he spoken caused Noah to freeze before an intense feeling of guilt began to emerge from his heart.

It has been a few years since the mother of the two only children he had died, by his hands.

It was a hidden secret which only the three of them and Herman knew of, the fact that Noah's first wife was a spy sent by the African native tribe to infiltrate their household and take it over through forceful usurpation using their first heir. Despite the fact it was within reason they had to get rid of her permanently, it did not change the fact he did indeed kill their mother which made him feel incredibly guilty and spoiled them into having the personalities they have now.

"Haaah.... Very well, I will count on her to ensure she studies," Noah said with a helpless face while waving his hand for Trevor and Stephanie to leave.

"My lord..." The butler felt troubled at how Noah kept blaming himself for what happened although it was only logical to get rid of the enemies, but the heart of a human was complicated even more so when it came to love and family.

"And this is why you and I keep having a problem" a familiar voice could be heard from the right side of the audience hall where Herman stood after entering through the open window.

"Commander Herman! You should know to follow procedures if you wish for an audience with the Patriarch!" The butler yelled at Herman who appeared, prepared to use this as another card against Herman who came as he expected.

"That is for those of lower rank, but let me remind you, Sebastian," Herman said with an icy cold voice causing a shiver to run down Sebastian's spine.

"I'm of a higher rank than you, best watch your tone next time"

"Enough!" Noah shouted out loud to disperse the current tense atmosphere within the hall, looking at Herman with a troubled face as he did not have the time to deal with him as well.

"Noah, you may be the Patriarch but you best control your daughter more strictly. I honestly don't wish to break the promise I made to the First but if she threatens my family again you know what will happen"

Herman said without caring if his words sounded like he was ready to rebel against the family, his family was his everything and he vowed to protect it above all else. Even if he had to extinguish this family for it.

"I apologize on my daughter's behalf for her actions, but isn't your son also in the wrong?" Noah responded looking at Herman

"I should correct you with that, since the man at your side was the one who pushed the duel while your daughter initiates it. My son only agreed to it on the premise of it being a regular duel" Herman pushed the fault back towards Sebastian and Stephanie without much difficulty

"That's wrong! He--"

"I was there since the strange Sebastian"

Herman said nonchalantly while he swiftly waved his hand that suddenly became transparent, yes this is one of the magic which Herman used that made him famous, Bright Clone made from light elemental magic.

Seeing this, Sebastian began to feel his blood leaving his face when he realized all his schemes had been played in the open to his enemies like he was a clown performing something entertaining. a meaningful smile appeared on Herman's face before he looked at Noah with a stern expression.

"I hope this will not happen again," Herman said before his clone dispersed into light particles.

"Dammit!" Noah slammed his fist on his armrest after Herman left all the rage and disappointment he kept holed up inside him burst out all at once causing Sebastian to jump in fright.

"My lord, we should have him removed from his post for insubordination and for disrespecting his lord!" Sebastian suggested while most of it was his personal feeling as he wanted Herman to be removed from power.

"I can't recklessly remove him from power, not after what happened just now. His famous amongst the soldiers and commoners alike, if I were to make a move then people might resist!" Noah said while sighing if Stephanie did not say anything like what she did then maybe he could have done something.

This made his disappointment in his daughter to only increase, he had been searching for a long time to remove Herman who was only loyal to the First Patriarch from his seat as Commander but every time he failed to find the opportunity.

"For now proceed to ensure my daughter remains in the house for a month!" Noah ordered before sending Sebastian off, gazing at the two large doors opening and closing before he was embraced by silence.

"Damn it! If I did not fail to cast them he would have been toasted!" Stephanie grumbled before a smack across her face resounded in her room causing her to yelp in pain.

"Shut it," Trevor said emotionlessly while looking at his sister that was more of a trash burden than anything else, "If you were not useful to me then I would have sent you to meet mother"

"N-No! I will be useful! It's that Ragnar, he--"

"I said SHUT IT!"

"Hiiiiii!"

"Unless you want me to remove you from my plans, you best behave for a while. Do you understand?" Trevor said to his sister who nodded her head like a woodpecker while ignoring the stinging pain from her swollen face out of fear for her brother.

"Father will probably ground you for this incident, so make sure to use the time to properly train your magic to understand? When in the future you are more skilled then you can get back at Ragnar" Trevor said as he warmly smiled at his sister while gently caressing her cheek which he slapped.

"Hick, yesh brother" Stephanie began to broke in tears while leaning her face on Trevor's hand that began to feel warm for some reason, despite being treated harshly she loved her brother more than anything in the world. Even if she had to ruin herself, she wanted to be of use for him.

'I will surely repay you for this... Ragnar' Trevor smiled freakishly like a demon who found something to toy around with.

Meanwhile, Herman who was currently reading the books began to understand different kinds of magic. Although most of them have similar results, the process and source of energy used were entirely different making him captivated at how diverse the world of magic truly is.

[Language Comprehension acquired!]

'Arcana sure is lively' Ragnar thought as he still remembered that it took him a few hours to translate books using a dictionary he found in the library, but now that he acquired this skill somehow it felt like his progress were too smoothly.

"Hmm... For a first time cast, it is possible to simply imagine the magic, however it is not practical due to its firepower and mana consumption?" Ragnar tilted his head at this explanation, following the instruction he got an empty glass from the old lady before heading back to the table where he was studying.

With the glass in front of him, holding the book with his left and right palm aimed at the glass he began to follow the instruction. While guiding the warm current he recognizes within his body as mana, he imagined a tiny stream of water.

As if responding to his desire, the mana materialized the magic formation for the water elemental magic but nothing came out. Seeing this Ragnar was perplexed, he followed the instruction but nothing happened?

'Did I do something wrong? Is it perhaps my mana in lacking?' Ragnar tilted his head but after reading the book he realized that he did not successfully cast the spell, even if spell failed due to insufficient mana he would have felt sluggish but he did not feel this way at all.

Which meant the spell never succeeded in the first phase where his mana left his source towards his palm before turning into emission magic.

Ragnar did not give up and tried several elements, but all of them failed. He simply could not find the reason, until he found a section in the Introduction to Magical Theory were there explained of various kinds of magic and one of them mentioned that there are cases of magicians only able to use one type of magic, enchantment or emission.

One could cast spells outside while the other could only enchant within the body or on the skin but magic leaving the body would disperse which was similar to his case. Even though he read this, he refused to believe that this was his problem, because...

[Card is slowly awakening...]