A wide smile appeared on Alexa’s face as she watched the blue orb of water fly slightly above the glyph paper that was starting to dissolve in the air as the magic was activated.

  Drawing the simple ‘Water Orb’ spell only required around twenty attempts for Alexa, before Wilhelm deemed that her proficiency was good enough and he allowed her to finally use mana ink for the last one.

  Upon activation, this was the result. A water orb that flew around five meters on top of the table. Her sigils instructed it to remain stationary for two minutes. Certainly, it was nothing but a child’s spell, but Alexa was extremely giddy as she watched it.

  Fire, now water, she could do it all, and all she needed was to learn how to draw fancy symbols! She wondered what other possibilities lay out there, and she wanted nothing but to discover them all.

  Even if she didn’t become a mage who used internal magic circles to cast magic, being able to use glyphs was still awesome. After all, what difference was there really? This was still magic!

  And there it goes.

  Alexa smiled wider as she saw that notification.

  One sub-quest down. Now, there are two to go. I can totally do this!

  “Heh,” Wilhelm chuckled a bit behind. “You know, Your Highness, you sure are quite amazed by magic. I must say, considering how you just started learning glyphs, the speed of your improvement is good. You keep this up, you’ll definitely learn the fundamentals to experiment with them.”

  “Say, are there any limits with glyph magic?”

  “No, not really. The only true limit of glyph magic is the precision of the instruction sigils placed on a paper, the amount of mana on the ink, or the amount of mana on an object channeling magic to the glyph.”

  “Wait, you can channel magic into a glyph?”

  “Yes. It just needs a channeling sigil to allow it. In that case, the glyph’s base magic will be there to maintain the instruction on the paper or object it is drawn into, while the object channeling magic, whether that be a mana crystal or even a person, will be the one to activate the rest of the sigils inside.”

  “In other words, an outside source can continuously activate such glyphs…”

  “Indeed. Such glyphs are usually inscribed on magical tools that are continuously used. An example of this in the military is the new Portable Anti-Demon Staff, or the PADS, a small-arms weapon used by soldiers that’s fueled by mana crystals.”

  “PADS?” Alexa tilted her head.

  It sounded like something that she’d heard in her nerd brother’s wargames. But that wouldn’t make sense, because obviously, this place had a largely backwards technology. It was something reminiscent of that of the late middle age, or maybe more than that, because there was plumbing and cut stone everywhere.

  But she’d never heard of weapons that sounded modern. Not even guns existed here, though to be fair, there was probably no need for them, considering how powerful magic was.

  In any case, magic was commonly used, so it was hard for Alexa to figure out the true development of this civilization. Maybe, that was where this civilization made great progress. Not essentially technology—but magic.

  Wilhelm continued his explanation.

  “PADS are handheld weapons being issued to our Defense Forces troopers to target heavily armored demons with a powerful light magic beam. It’s comparable to a mage with three light affinity magic circles firing a light beam spell. The replaceable magic crystal inside is capable of firing two of these beams before the mana in it is depleted.”

  “I see. And that tool, it has glyphs in it to fire that same spell that mages with light magic circles use?”

  “Indeed. That’s just one of the examples. But there’s a lot more out there.”

  Alexa grinned. So that was the power of glyphs. Though, by the sound of it, such tools definitely must be quite limited, in that they can only fire pre-set spells inscribed on them. That meant there would be absolutely no variation once used, and those soldiers using it would fire the same thing over and over.

  “But what if the demons adapted to it?” Alexa asked, curious.

  A tired sigh came from Wilhelm.

  “That’s precisely why the Defense Forces have to keep their numbers high and adapt constantly. Unlike the Imperial Army which only fights to ensure the Empire’s supremacy over our vassal nations, the Defense Forces are battling an enemy more powerful than mankind, and a foe capable of adapting to our defenses, using nothing but the conscripted dregs of our nation.

  “Calling it a meatgrinder would be the only accurate way to describe it, and it’s a meatgrinder that demands bodies and resources year-by-year. Most soldiers sent there rarely go home, even if officially, a man only needs to spend a single four-year deployment tour in the front.

  “Most are forced or compelled to spend their lives up north until they die instead. It also helps that fighting demons withers one’s mind to the point where you will irrationally hate and fight them beyond the point of reason. But even then, it’s not enough. As such, the Defense Forces is a constantly evolving organization, because if it isn’t, humanity would have long been overrun and extinct.”

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  Alexa’s eyes hung wide. That place seemed exceptionally cruel. Was that why Phoebe became hailed by those soldiers as a heroine when she killed most Archdemons?

  It sounded like she liberated them from an eternal nightmare in that case.

  “It all…sounds so vicious,” Alexa muttered.

  “Indeed. It is said that a century ago, the Defense Forces only fought largely with mages, swords, and arrows. But it all failed and we lost a lot of territory and men, and it was difficult to replace experienced battlemages who fell in battle. They had to find a way to arm legions of untrained common men pressed into service. Adaptation therefore is the name of the game, and glyph magic is playing a large role in that. Unfortunately, research into its use is still stifled, because people see it as ‘commoner’s magic’.”

  “I see…how unfortunate,” Alexa sighed. It seemed that the arrogance of the people in this world stifled development, though she laughed internally at that. To be fair, she too was probably a part of that problem. “Maybe, once I’m the Empress, I’ll invest a great deal of money into researching glyphs. I see great potential in them. Maybe we can even save more lives and win the war easier!”

  “Well, for now, you should focus on yourself though,” Wilhelm laughed a bit at her growing enthusiasm. “If you continue diligently studying and practicing it, I'm sure you’ll find great use in it. I certainly did already.”

  “You did?”

  She watched as Wilhelm nodded with a small smile.

  +++

  “Lady Alexa, you seem like you’re beaming today,” Phoebe said, as Alexa walked beside her toward the General Building.

  “Of course. It’s a fine morning after all,” Alexa smiled. It had already been weeks since she was suspended, and now, on a fine Monday, she was back for her core studies. Best of all, the work she placed on herself throughout that week was starting to pay off.

  “Why so, Lady Alexa?” Phoebe curiously asked, as people around them looked at the two with great interest. Alexa laughed at it, The peasants sure must be quite jealous and awed by two fine flowers walking side-by-side.

  The boys all stared at the two, equally at Alexa and Phoebe. But none of them mattered for now, because what made her morning so good was…

  “Glyphs! That’s why. I have just mastered the first tier of my glyph magic skill,” Alexa proudly boasted. “I’m already starting to memorize a lot of basic spells, both for fire and water magic. I intend to do the same to the four other affinities soon.”

  “Whoa, really? Is that possible?” Phoebe asked. “I’m only able to cast light magic, unfortunately. I’ve set all three of my magic circles to that affinity.”

  “But why? Shouldn’t you spread it out between different affinities so you have no blind spots?”

  “The priest who raised me insisted that I focus only on light magic, because it synergizes with my eventual powers as the saintess…should it awaken. I don’t really understand, I just…follow what the adults tell me.”

  “Is that so?” Alexa was a bit concerned by that. “Well, I suppose I’m not far off. Don’t be so discouraged. Once we’re good enough, we can freely experiment with our abilities until we master them. I am sure of it!”

  After Alexa said that, she briefly looked at a statue in the middle of the wide avenue toward the General Building.

  The three heroes of humanity stood there, and each one of them was said to have possessed an ability so powerful that they rallied humanity to seek its freedom from the ancient Helgon race, the same race that Phoebe hailed from. Their contributions were so massive, that to this day, the Holy Empire claims that they were the valiant founders of Lotharingia.

  In the middle, standing on a piece of stone higher than the other two, was the most powerful witch known to man, a woman who held a staff raised and aimed triumphantly to the skies, a proud smile gracing her face as well. Legend has it that her voice was not only soothing, soft, and beautiful, but that everyone could hear it from all corners of the world.

  On the right side standing below her was an old man in a military coat, holding a sword planted on the ground. He was one of the finest generals of humanity, and it was said that he could hear everything and react to it in advance, that in his entire lifetime, he barely lost ten thousand men in his battles.

  On the left side on the other hand was a burly warrior who held a battle-axe. Little is known about his ability, save for the fact that he defeated the Helgon Emperor, one-on-one, alone.

  Of course, considering their legendary status, and the fact that it all happened a long time ago, it’s unknown whether their stories were truly true. Much of it was probably just glorification or fabrications, but what was certain was that they helped humanity overthrow the Helgons, a race that had oppressed humanity when they ruled the world.

  Alexa grinned as she looked up at them.

  “See those people?” Alexa asked. “I do not doubt that you can be like them too. Of course, as the finest princess out there, I wouldn’t lag behind them for so long either. So I assure you, there will be a statue bigger than this lame one erected in my name.”

  Phoebe’s eyes sparkled.

  “If someone made a statue of you, Lady Alexa, people in the future will be in awe of your beauty.”

  “Indeed, indeed,” Alexa proudly played with her long, pink hair a bit. “Now, let’s go. I have lessons to catch up on.”

  As the two reached the entrance, suddenly, someone appeared to block the two of them on the wide stairs.

  It was a handsome young man of their age, with blue hair and blue eyes, standing with the exaggerated swagger of your average high nobleman. He looked straight at the two, as he placed his hand on his hip.

  Ah, crap, and I thought we managed to avoid these weirdoes. That’s one of the romantic interests in the novel—the future King of Galen: Jean Pierre de Galen.

  “My, you two fine ladies appear quite radiant today,” the prince beamed. “But after what has happened, I fear that you two might be having quite the troublesome days. So that we can avoid losing those truly beautiful smiles, I would like to propose to escort the two of you to safety—”

  “Walk past him, Phoebe. He’s but a silly playboy.”

  “U-um, okay, Lady Alexa. But he’s been kind to me since last week.”

  “I said walk past him.”

  Phoebe followed Alexa clumsily, while the prince, his jaw practically dropping to the ground, looked at the two as if his heart had been shattered into a million pieces.

  Alexa on the other hand walked faster, annoyed.

  Geez, he’s just the heir to the throne of a lowly vassal Kingdom. Where did he get the idea that he can boldly approach me like this? Then again, in the story, I was supposed to chase him as my betrothed before his eyes turned to Phoebe. So ugh, I’m sorry. There’s no way I’ll like him, he’s too icky!

  “W-wait, Miss Phoebe and Lady Alexa!” the young man practically cried out as he chased after them. “I apologize, but I was merely trying to cheer the two of you!”

  Shut up, shut up, shut up!

  The last thing on Alexa’s mind was romantic distractions to her goal of not getting sliced by a guillotine. So she took Phoebe’s hand, and in seconds, they were both running in the hallways as if they were being chased by a creep.

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