The Princess' Power
Draven talks with Princess Alexandria, as she changes into another gown, in that moment, the princess decides to continue changing, girls...
Draven decides to break his conversation and get into silence.
"( Princess Alexandria... )"
"( I always keeping an eye on you during the Preliminaries... )" he says to himself.
"( In the battle royale, unlike other contestants, never once I spot you releasing your Magic, only the use of the 'Clarion Eye'... )"
"( Using your 'Princess' status, you won the Preliminaries as the other AMA students surrounded you, sacrificing their chances to win to make sure you survive the harsh chaotic battle. )" he remembers what happened in the last Tournament.
"( I was watching things in certain spots, despite not using the Shadows, I've positioned myself as the sniper in the Tournament, using my
"( It took me so much calculations during that, but you, Princess... )"
"( Oh..., you better. )" Draven remembers even more.
...
( Days Ago, During Preliminaries. )
" This is the best spot for me. " Donovan tells himself as he goes into a nearby Tower object.
" Since Carlos and Carol are taking the limelight, guess I'll use the chaos to my advantage, during this all-out rumble. "
" Striking opponents from blindsight. " Donovan did this as he
"( The rule of the battle is simple, Defeat your enemy or just Tag them out. )"
"( In our clothes, they put Tag Devices, if it gets hit, it will emit a red light, showing that the contestant is out. )"
"( The Device itself is also equipped with Mana Sensory Feature, able to determine which contestant does the Tag Out Hit, adding it to their overall result of this Battle, 3 points each. )"
"( Each contestant had three Tag Devices strapped, so I just needed to hit there without exerting too much. )" Donovan says this after tagging out his opponents with secrecy.
"( Guess I'll just do the sniping thing and just wait for the countdown. )" Donovan sees the System, showing him he only had one hour left.
" Well, that's neat. "
" If I remain after the countdown, I will at least be given 52 points in my result! "
" I may not reach Carlos' or Carol's overall points, but at least I survive. " Donovan determines his strategy, already on the lookout for another opponent to tag.
" Thank goodness they added the tag rule, otherwise, this Battle Royale will cost lives. "
" Like a freaking Death Match, a Battle Royale should've been. " Donovan says that, but suddenly his eyes catch glance sight of a group from his west.
" That's Princess Alexandria's group. "
" Wait, You can fight with so many numbers? " Donovan wonders, seeing the Princess is surrounded by other AMA contestants, surrounded also by enemies who came after here.
" Princess, we're sorry, but we have to tag you-, Ouch! "
" Princess, would you let me-, Ach! "
" We won't let you get near the princess! " said the AMA students, the girls especially, protecting the princess from harm's way.
" Wait a minute, if they're the ones who do things, doesn't that mean the Princess didn't get any points, thus far? " Donovan wonders, seeing this, a sound logic, for how could the Princess survive if she does nothing to even tag her opponents out, she needs to hit with her Magic.
" System, I need scans right now. "
" The Princess couldn't be that calm while her 'henchmen' did her thing unless she had something behind the scenes. " Donovan says as the System notifies that it found something.
< [Influencing Magic: Share Bond] is in use. >
< The 'Shared Bond' increases the Princess' companions' power, even their Level. >
< Like this for example... >
" Wait what!? " Donovan sees it, he sees that one of the Princess' guardians, he sees that the contestant's original level is 37, immediately skyrocketed into 98.
< Level: 98 (+61 Boost) >
< The (+ Boost) is a temporary effect of the Bond, once the Bond is over, the Boost will gone and the shared one will return to its normal level. >
< This Magic Skill also had a 'Mana Layer' Effect, which means, Princess Alexandria's Mana will layer those of her henchmen, enveloping them with the Princess' power, which System predicted that... >
" You're telling me that with that kind of skill, she could score so much without even moving her body at all!? " Donovan asks as the System agrees with it.
< Yes, the 'Mana Layer' envelops the Princess' subject's Mana until there is no trace of their Original Mana Power. >
" That's cheating! " Donovan shouts as he hears it.
" That's even more cheating than Carlos' goddamn silver platter fortune, boosting levels, that's broken! "
" Tch, when I see this thing, I immediately remembered 'Disaster King'*... "
" Back in the 'Realm of Disaster', when I almost had him, I remember his level Skyrocketed as freak... "
" Well, there are some sorcerers whose level can be that low since they might've held themself back of sorts. "
" But in my experience, their levels increased or returned to their original level with process, not just boom and you got boosted 100 Levels. "
" This is nuts, I began to wonder if my grinding means nothing after all these times. "
" Ah, I hate you 'Rightful Descendants of King Arthur'... "
" You always had something that made your power unreachable, Carlos, Tenebrae, and now Princess Alex-, huh! " Donovan startles, he sees Princess Alexandria looking at his position, which makes him startled.
" Whoa, whoa, whoa, she saw me! " Donovan prepares himself, during that panic, he kinda remembered the rumors that the Princess can see almost everything.
While he's on the guard, the Princess who saw him from afar, decides to smile at him, not alarming her guardians even.
" Damn, she's mocking me alright... " Donovan had the thought, seeing the Princess calmly wave at him from her place amidst her guardians' trouble.
" Seriously, I began to wonder if the Aether wasn't forbidden, I wonder how much I like fighting them all with full force. " Donovan tells this to himself.
" But no, I must be patient... "
" I already planned to hold myself until the end, by using any rules to make me win without any exertion over my 'Draven' persona. "
" Stick to the plan, stick it! "
" Even if you see that there's another person that without shame cheats their way to success, while you have to grind things in the Dungeon. " Donovan decides to remind himself as he chants it while closing his eyes.
...
( Back to the present. )
"( The Princess technically didn't cheat since she's using her own Magic when doing so, not using any items whatsoever. )"
"( But still, I wonder how she can pull such a thing at her sleeve...? )" Draven wonders as the Princess comes out from her changing room.
" What do you think, fufu~? " Princess Alexandria asks while Draven just sighs.
" Let's go. "
____________
Extra:
* 'Disaster King'.
Ruler of 'Realm of Disaster', Donovan fought him in Volume 4.
See Chapter 184: Realm Of Disaster