CITY OF DESIRE [KINGDOM BUILDING]

Proofread By Thomas F

Rylan Aardwyn

“I understand, Royal Adviser,” replied Lord Constance before the band on his hand turned off.

He turned to me and didn’t speak. Instead, he took out a privacy plate and activated it. I activated the privacy skill and cast privacy spells.

He is a cautious man, and we are in a foreign country and continent. There might be people watching us; it did not hurt to be wary.

Especially in hotels, where many staff have eavesdropping skills.

“What did they say?” I asked.

“They want us to go to the Greltheaven,” he replied, and I was not surprised.

For months, we have been traveling constantly, going continent after continent. We went to every throne we could and received the same answer.

“So, we are going to let them consume the bathhouse?” I asked. I don’t want it; it would make us lose everything—the title, the respect, and everything else.

“What do you think?” he asked, his smile laced with something unreadable.

Seeing that, a smile of my own tugged at the corners of my lips, but beneath it, curiosity stirred.

It was my first genuine smile in months.

…

Bell

Bam Bam Bam!

The Earth Spears came coated in the power of Arax’s Cover and Perus’s Thunderbolt.

The combination is called Yirtaz Spear’s. A generalist, Mage Irkal Yirtaz, created it when he was a simple Mage. Not yet an Archmage.

They came with the Sar’s Arcs, the frost arcs covered in wind and metal elements spells.

There are tens of them, and they are coming at me from all directions.

The legacy could only imprint and cast Grade III spells. Those spells are the strongest in Grade III.

The attacks that are coming at me have the power of the Grade IV spells.

The mages are always inventive. They have long ago found a way to surpass the power of their grade through the combination spells.

A few mages could achieve such a feat. It is complex and requires massive control. The failure had killed many mages.

The legacy does not have that problem.

I pushed those thoughts and looked at the spells coming at me. All of them have the power of Grade IV, while I had not even reached Lv. 30.

I looked at them and expanded the forcefield of Graceful Repel.

I used to do the dome, but now I spread the field over my body, creating armor.

It’s tricky, but it’s within my control. A year ago, I only needed a week to achieve it.

I have become much better at it, and that is why I expanded the field and created a layer of armor and then another. It is a real challenge. Especially to achieve it in the blink of an eye.

Three layers created a strong protection, but not strong enough.

So, I reinforced it with the aura.

Once that happened, I turned to spells. They have advanced very close to me.

I do not plan to defend against them with the armor. It is just a precaution.

I looked at the spells and swept my hand at them, activating the Graceful Sweep with the power of aura, and immediately, the seven spells in front of me were swept away.

They are still coming, some reaching meters away from me, with more materializing behind them.

So, I activated Silver Glide and reinforced the Noble Eyes. My vision became clearer than before, and my steps were faster. I avoided the attacks while using the Graceful Sweep to sweep them away.

My mother used to say that the Graceful Sweep was the most underestimated skill of the ruling classes.

I didn’t believe her—until she casually swept that S-Class powerhouse out of the window. It was like watching a cat flick a toy mouse off the table.

I moved through the spells, sweeping them aside with practiced ease, until the rock sphere, crackling with undead lightning, materialized just a meter away from me.

I stopped in my tracks with no fear and panic. Instead, my aura moved, and a beautiful purple blade materialized in front of me before shooting the sphere.

Rip!

The next second, the ripping sound rang out, and the whole sphere was cut cleanly into by the aura method.

Clap, Clap, Clap!

A sphere crashed to the ground just as the clap rang out, and Carla stepped in.

She’s the one who’s been attacking me.

“Amazing. No wonder even Remus couldn’t defeat you,” she said, her voice dripping with admiration.

I couldn’t help but smile.

Remus is powerful, and growing too fast, but so have I. After that assassination attempt on Carla and me, I knew it was time to start training.

I was strong enough to kill the assassin instantly, but the bastard nearly took me out. I had all the tools, but I didn’t know how to use them. Since that day, I’ve been learning. Now, I’ve mastered all the basic aura techniques of my family—on both sides.

I practice fighting every day. Especially since Remus came back with that “wonderful gift.”

Before he left, I had only Remus, Stone, and my spells to rely on. But now, with Jon awakening the aura, I’ve gained the Rogue as well.

With him by my side, I’m covering all the bases.

“Continue with the practice as you are, and you’ll be able to do it too,” I replied. At that, she smiled.

Remus isn’t the only one advancing quickly with the aura. The woman in front of me is as well. Both of them train with a drive that pushes them beyond exhaustion.

Remus’s motivation is joy.

Seeking mastery and power are secondary, despite his claims to the contrary. For him, it’s the joy of learning—the childlike curiosity that fuels him.

Carla, however, seeks pure power. She’ll never experience what she did in Eartburn.

“Shall we begin?” I asked.

“Yes,” she replied, determination in her voice.

I reached for the legacy and summoned the spells. They materialized, crackling with energy, and I launched them toward her.

She has a few skills—ones that can be used for dodging, defense, and offense. I’m using these spells to push her to integrate her aura into those skills.

I had planned to wait until she had mastered her aura more fully, but after hearing what happened with Remus, I decided to accelerate the process.

The spells I’m using are Grade 1, and I’ve cast Grade II protection on her—but that’s just for defense.

There’s a vast collection of spells at my disposal, and I’ve chosen those that will be blocked by the armor, but will still send a sharp pain through her whenever the spell hits the protection.

She’s fusing the aura with her skills now.

It’s not truly a fusion; it’s more like forcing the aura into the skill. It’s less brute force than it used to be, but she’ll need more finesse to make it smooth and natural.

Remus is already ahead in this. In a few months, he’ll be able to fuse the aura with his skills seamlessly, without any resistance.

Fusing is far superior to forcing. It amplifies the power of the skills in ways brute force never could.

A minute passed. Then another. She dodged, defended, and counterattacked the spells coming at her, but many still managed to land. Each one made her grit her teeth, the sting of the hits sharp with the force of the aura’s backlash.

I kept up the attack, even as she grew tired and struggled to maintain the aura.

One doesn’t always need to push themselves to their breaking point, but sometimes, one must. To truly grow, it’s a balance of practicing gently but also forcing oneself to the edge.

Ting!

The last Stone Dark spell struck her temple. She nearly toppled but managed to stabilize herself, sitting down slowly as she let the aura ebb away, exhaustion taking its toll.

For a few minutes. She lay down before finally opening her eyes.

“I could only dodge and defend barely 10% of the spells,” she said. Clearly, she is not satisfied with her progress.

“It is much better than the first time. When you were only able to dodge a single spell,” I replied.

The woman is progressing fast. Just a few weeks ago, she was able to defend only against a single spell, and now she is doing it against 10%.

“I just want to progress enough to make this training worthwhile,” she replied, sighing.

It is a privilege to train like this. Seeing every spell cost, in essence, but we don’t have much choice. Especially me; I can not let others see my abilities.

Thankfully, Remus trusted me enough that he had given me access to the spells.

If the news of it leaked, the trouble it would cause would be immense. He might not even be able to survive it.

She got up, and we walked out of the training hall. It is underground, and a few people are aware of it. It is also protected by the power of legacy and Caena’s spells so that even Earth Mage couldn’t find it.

‘Bell, come to my office.’

I had just walked out when I heard the voice in my head and turned. I took the elevator to the top floor before walking out.

It is night, and people are enjoying themselves.

One birthday party is happening on the top floor. They booked it whole. Usually, Silver only does this on this roof, but Noble is from the Empire, and Silver needs him.

I watched it as I walked toward Caena’s office.

“Madam is waiting for you,” said Caena’s secretory. I nodded and walked inside.

“Thank you for informing me,” said Caena, before cutting the spell and turning to me.

“What happened?” I asked as I took a seat in front of the woman with whom I shared so much.

Our circumstances are nearly the same. We are from ancient families that were destroyed and have a vow of revenge in our hearts.

I pity her enemies.

They shouldn’t have messed with the witches, especially of her lineage.

She has descended from the ones that had gone against the archmages and buried the enemies that even archimages would shudder to fight.

“Why do you call me?” I asked, and her expression turned serious.

“Do you know anything about the rituals of Lorus Mavgalkam?” she asked, and it felt familiar.

I used the skill to remember.

“The grand ritual of Witch of Wails?” I asked back as I remembered. To that, she nodded.

“Just the basics. My father had put the book about the event on my reading list, but I never got a chance to read it,” I replied.

It was the last reading list he gave me. I had only read three books before the incident happened.

Hearing that, she sighed.

“Is it about the spell you are crafting?” I asked. To that, she nodded.

She had told me about what Remus wants, and I have to say he has ambition, but this time, he could very well lose his legacy.

My parents had commented about it when it happened last time.

They would have advised against it, despite their short life after breaking the connection with the thrones.

Those legacies are too strong. Because of their connection to the thrones, they could be said to be above Grade III.

There are also other things that make it tricky. Especially for Silver, given the disadvantages he will have compared to the other legacy.

Despite the risk, he has my support.

Velvet Garden is no common legacy, and there is also Caena. It wouldn’t be easy for them to swallow us. They are for a big surprise, if they think, it will be anything but easy.

Seeing she does not need me anymore. I got up and walked toward the door.

Hun!

I was about to open it when I sensed the familiar feeling descending on me. More powerful than I had ever sensed.

It immediately brought terror to my face.

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