Chapter 16) The Young Demoness

As we made our way through the halls, mother and I gossiped about all the little things we have stumbled across while roaming the castle. Like how one of the new bakers in our service secretly makes an extra loaf or two of bread to share with his serving girl crush, a dainty little thing she is. Another would be how a group of our guards came in last night piss drunk and had an inhouse brawl at the barracks, where bets were made on who could endure the most fighting before losing their stomach. I had fun telling my mother of all these interactions because after becoming queen, she rarely gets to experience speaking with anyone that isn't family or a political power.

We approached one of our courtyards, as Father had asked for me to do. I could not help but notice he chose a large open area for this "talk" and hoped he wouldn't do what I think he will. We finally saw him standing as still as a statue in the center of the courtyard, accompanied by multiple birds and small woodland creatures. However, that is when I noticed they all seemed ethereal, and it dawned on me.

"Father are all those creatures manifestations of your mana?"

He opened his eyes at my question and smiled warmly.

"Yes dear, this is all me. From the birds flying around, to the ants you can't even see yet. Every living thing in this courtyard beyond the plants, that breathes, is made by yours truly. It helps me practice my control, by breathing life into the creatures I manifest, as I make them perform their daily habits as normal creatures."

He released all the projections and calmly walked toward us. He took both our hands and guided us to some seats. After letting mother sit down, he had me stand in the center of the yard across from him.

"Lucy, today I know you can and will reach the hundredth rune and officially gain the title of 'Basic mage', so I am going to show you the last fifty runes in the whole runic set, and once you're done, I shall be gifting you something."

I only nodded my head, accepting the task before me. I watched him project one hundred runes into the air with a simple thought, and then watched him highlight specific runes with a different elemental mana to specify which in question I shall have to perform. I noticed he had them all arranged in some type of order, but cast that thought aside as I prepared to perform my test to graduate to basic mage.

With a deep breath, I pulled a large mass of mana from my core and slowly made ten of the remaining runes, easily cleaving twenty percent of my task away. It only took me another ten seconds before all ten of those runes were stable and officially taken off the list by my father. After collapsing those runes, I reshaped the mana into the next ten, shortening the stabilization time by a few seconds. I repeated this until finally, all the marked runes had been achieved. Then my father spoke up after the few minutes that he had been watching.

"Now as a final test, I want you to shape all one hundred runes exactly as I have them in front of me. After that, you will officially be done. As I always have been, I shall stand by you and make sure your mana does not go berserk. Now, begin."

I took a few minutes to calm my nerves and steel my resolve. Then in one thought, I projected forty runes, only adding five at a time afterwards. My father only stood there, waiting, observing my every movement. I started feeling the strain in my mind once I reached 90 runes, but knew I only needed a single push to finish. I dug deep, and pushed the last ten runes out, only to watch all of the runes dissolve and proceed to swirl around me. All I could see was a wind dome surrounding me, and feel a whole new clarity reach my mind. 'So, this is true magic?'

Father had enormous smile on his face as he made his way towards the edges of my dome.

"Congratulations Lucilia. You have successfully broken through to the basic mage level. My gift is this spell, as it is one I created. I like to call it the 'Sleepy Guardian' as the winds seem almost like a gust, however, don't be fooled. Every basic level spell besides something of the opposite element with equal or more power, will be deflected or simply smothered into nothing. After your breakthrough, you should be able to cast your runes far faster than before."

I nodded my head, as I could definitely feel a newfound clarity in everything I did. 'If this is how clear the world is at the basic level, I can only wonder what the world looks like to father.' I looked straight at him and decided now would be a good time to get a full explanation on the levels of mages. Once I asked he smiled again.

"I suppose you would eventually like to know these things so I'll enlighten you. The stages are Basic, True, Master, True Master, Sage, Grand Sage, and what I'm currently at, the Divine stage. All of the stages are further divided into smaller categories based off of your breadth of knowledge. So in the basic stage, you can be described as a Tier 1 of 4, as you only have one spell, granted, it is a max level spell for your stage. In order to reach the peak of a rank, you simply have to be capable of multi-casting three 40 rune spells either simultaneously, or consecutively with almost no delay. It is safe to say the first four stages of mages are stages of learning. I will be honest though, as in all fairness, in order to make you a true mage, you realistically only needed to perform a twenty rune spell, but with you, I obviously raised the difficulty by five times. It is because your starting point for mana reserves needs proper control, and you would have only felt yourself getting better if I gave you the hardest possible challenges."

I stood there in a daze as I digested the information. 'Not only am I in the beginner of beginner levels as a mage, but my test had a five-fold increase in difficulty just because I have more mana? Wait he also said he is in the Divine stage of magic? That means he is the pinnacle of pinnacles! If the title has anything to go by, it means he is basically a God incarnate on this mortal plane! This is my father?' The look on my father's face easily showed he knew what I was thinking, and made him feel like clarifying something.

"Lucy I should specify something for you. While I did say that I was in the Divine stage, that statement is technically wrong, or rather an understatement. I am actually at a stage two levels higher than that, however, since I am the only thing on the planet with that level, there is no true title for what I am, so by human standards, I can only be titled a Tier 4 Divine Mage."

My jaw hit the floor with that revelation.

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'Above... the Divine Stage?....Dad, you expect me to get that good and even further this quickly?? This is absurd!' I could only stand there in a daze. As I felt the gravity of my future problem weighing down on me, I felt as though I were suffocating. Father quickly came close to try and break me out of my mind.

"Darling, as daunting as it may seem, I need you to focus on my voice, from right here, right now. I need you to concentrate on the present, or the world will try to break you with the future. That is how life works sweetie. Learn from the past, train in the present, and take the future a single step at a time. Every step forward is a struggle, and if you try to jump too far too quickly, you will be consumed. Breathe Lucy, breathe."

I finally latched onto his voice and tried to collect myself.

"I can't help but worry that I won't nearly be enough to stop what's coming father. If you think you won't stand a chance, the likelihood I can do anything is miniscule at best, and nonexistent at worst."

He gently stroked the top of my head, trying to calm me down like he used to back in my childhood. He didn't stop until I stopped trembling. My mother made her way over now, and embraced the both of us.

"The both of you never cease to amaze me with how you both act. Sadly, Lucy, you gained your father's sense of desperation for tasks, and he still hasn't grown past that himself. What must I do with two grown children and one an actual child? Speaking of, here she comes now. Brace yourselves, she has her look again."

We both grimaced before turning around with smiles on our faces. There Jess came, with a haughty pride emanating with every step she took. The second she could understand what her status was in this world, she became a little tyrant. Everywhere she went, she wanted a servant to do something for her, and she was utterly unconvinced of anything that wasn't in alignment with her own goals. In other words, all words were lies so long as she wasn't the one to say them. We all love her, but there is nothing on this planet that could not be annoyed by her arrogance.

"So this is where all of you were! Hmph! I have been looking ALL over the castle and you weren't ANYWHERE. WHAT do you all have to say for yourselves?!"

'Oh? She's grown more bold since last week.' We all thought at once.

"It seems as though you haven't learned your lesson you little brat! Come! See how your sister dearest cleans out the insolence of youths!"

With that, I scooped her up and twirled her around by her feet. As she screamed we both started laughing. She could not keep her haughty demeanor up for long when in my presence, as she very much so held me in too high of regards. For some reason, she has been attached to my hip since she could crawl. She fawns over me more than some of the lords sons, and that is saying something. We both were blessed with the best of both our parents looks. I have my mother's hourglass figure, admittedly having a bit of a wider waistline, and yes, WAISTLINE, as I am a proper young lady that would never snack all the time! I gained her long straight hair, however, I ended up having father's dark golden locks. I have mother's face as well. Of all of this however, is what always made me feel different. I suppose the Gods above didn't want me having more of one parent than the other, so both my eyes have both their shades. Each of my eyes had dual colored broken irises. Half is a stormy grey, while the other half is emerald green. Jess luckily, only ended up with emerald colored eyes like mother.

Father always said my eyes looked as though a storm was being shrouded by an amazing aurora, directly showing my personality. However, I never once thought that I had such dark intent, especially not such threatening intent that I'd have to hide it behind a pretty mask. I have always prided my self on how I am brutally honest. If something is disliked, I say so, and If I love something, I say so. My emotions are almost always open to the world. Now, if were to speak about Jess...she prides her self on how many masks she can have on at once, and is simply a destructive ball of emotion.

'I hope I can stop whatever my dream had planned for you sweet sister of mine.'

After making sure Jess could not walk straight after the spin cycle she went through, I promptly pushed her to the ground and watched her head and eyes spin. She could put on no resistance, and simply accepted her fate of spinning vision. Our parents were chuckling to themselves as they had watched me easily defeat the miniature demoness at her own game. I turned my nose to the sky and promptly released an malicious laugh.

"oHoHoHo, young Jessica. You are 100 years to young to believe I could be walked on by you. Be glad you only got put through Elder Sister Technique #3: Heavenly Rotation, as this is my greatest show of mercy."

The smiles froze on our parents faces. 'She has more than one technique? Since when?' Their minds raced at the realization their eldest daughter may have more of a dark side then they thought. Meanwhile, Jess seemed to finally recover only to hear those words. Her face grew pale, as she realized her situation.

"Oh great, benevolent, loving, charming, elder sister. I have learned my lesson for my wrongdoings and humbly request that no further actions take place as this humble, cute, and humble younger sister has learned her lesson and has received enlightenment." She even curtsied and bowed her head.

I spat out blood. 'Did she seriously call herself humble twice? How shameless could someone possibly be at 6 years old? Was I this bad at that age? Oh Gods she has too much power at this age, I must control it before the world falls at her feet.' Our parents shared the same thought, as Jessica is becoming a menace to the world with every passing day. Little did we know, the person in question had a devilish smile on her face while she still had her head bowed down. 'I shall see how you counter that move, dear sister. Hehehe.' That is when I decided on what I would say to cow this brat for the week.

"It seems my baby sister has chosen to have a second technique be unleashed upon her. Let us see, hmmm, how about Elder Sister Technique #1: Divine Spanking?"

The wind seemed to pick up at this moment, bringing in a howling sound as it swept the courtyard. We all watched Jess tremble, with sweat pouring down her face. 'I may have miscalculated, and now my bum is doomed!'

She made a desperate dash towards any of the exits in the vicinity, but alas, I have longer legs, and magic.

Jess heard me crack my knuckles from behind her, and found she was cornered.

'Is this where I meet my end? At the hands of my dear elder sister? (sigh) Then have at thee then!' Jess spun around and launched an assault!