“So you’re now instructing the princess herself? That sounds like a very ambitious task, so I’m not sure if you’ll get far in that one.”

  “Her Highness is difficult to deal with, but her assistance has its uses. Besides, she’s still the next Empress, at the very least, someone has to guide her somewhat...”

  “You still delude yourself too much, Wilhelm. Do you actually see yourself as a teacher now? I thought all you want in life is to kill demons? Then focus on the saintess, the princess is a waste of time.”

  “...This still serves my goals, Henry. So I’ll do it. Now, get out of my office.”

  Did that pig just call me a waste of time?!

  Alexa kept Phoebe’s mouth shut as the two waited outside of Instructor Wilhelm’s office. When the door opened, suddenly, a middle-aged professor wearing a black coat suddenly left.

  He was black-haired, with emerald green eyes. Just like Wilhelm, his skin was pale, sickly, and his eyes were sunk and gloomy. It was as if he had been a frozen corpse, or someone who never gets a wink of sleep.

  His steely eyes looked down at the two girls, before it was replaced by a smile when he noticed Phoebe.

  “Oh, apologies if I spooked you two. You both seem too guarded. Look, I’m just a lowly professor here, so there’s no need to be so stiff.”

  Von Hecker. You’re quite the liar.

  “Is that so?” Alexa asked, suspicious.

  “Of course,” Henry laughed, then he eyed Phoebe with great interest. “Now, you’re the saintess, right?”

  “U-um, yes, sir. Are you…Professor Henry von Hecker?” Phoebe asked, scared.

  Suddenly, the man walked close to Phoebe, and even Alexa flinched back a bit, though she had a more defensive frown compared to Phoebe’s terrified expression.

  Almost by instinct, Alexa stood in front of Phoebe.

  “Yes. That’s me,” Henry confirmed. “I’m from the Combat Tactics Department. If you’d like to study self-defense, you can come to my class.”

  “Doesn’t Wilhelm teach the same though?” Phoebe asked, curious.

  “Ah,” Henry scoffed as he looked at Wilhelm’s office. “Whatever he’s teaching is only useful if you’re commanding a bunch of soldiers. He’s not going to teach you a lot of worthwhile things to defend yourself from the dangers of life.”

  “Oh,” Phoebe nodded, looking down.

  “I should say, you need to be at least at the 4th Circle, Formation Stage of your manaheart development to join my class,” Henry added. “But, I can make an exception for you, Phoebe.”

  “I’m only at the third circle,” Phoebe said. “It sounds tempting, but I don’t want any special favors to get ahead of everyone else. Besides, Her Highness here can’t join any practical classes yet. I wish to help her first before stepping forward.”

  What?

  Alexa, who had been staring defensively and glaring at Henry, mainly because of the major creep energy he radiated, which she remembered she only ever felt when close to that pig ahem older brother of hers, suddenly turned to Phoebe, pleasantly surprised.

  Is that why she willingly came with me?

  It seemed that their little talk earlier as they enjoyed tea and cake galvanized Phoebe to come with Alexa, and maybe even help her in her magic troubles. That was something Alexa didn’t expect, as she thought Phoebe was merely curious.

  Henry turned to Alexa, his smile still on his face. On the outside, it looked like he respected Alexa. Yet she could see through his eyes.

  He seemed confused, and he didn’t seem like someone who liked Alexa.

  “Strange, but I suppose that makes sense,” he muttered to himself a bit. “Carry on then. I wish you two good luck in your endeavours. To you especially, Your Highness.”

  “I have no need for a peasant’s wishes of good luck,” Alexa snapped at him, as she felt a bad taste in her mouth just talking to this person.

  “Thanks for your offer, Sir Henry! And don’t mind her, she’s just a bit stiff, but she’s very kind!” Phoebe called out behind Alexa, as Henry walked away, waving his hand lazily at them.

  That guy. He first killed me. Then he killed Phoebe, all to take power for himself.

  She never remembered that character in any place in the original novel. So why was he here now? Even in the novel that was changed, he seemed like an enigma, rarely appearing, but almost always somehow out there.

  He seemed like a background character, who acted in the shadows until he took power for himself at the perfect moment.

  It sent chills down Alexa’s spine.

  Was he her true nemesis now? Phoebe, behind Alexa, seemed like a close friend by now, but that man, while he wouldn’t kill her this time, Alexa imagined that if she survived the demon ordeal, Von Hecker would still come back.

  “Is this what you meant by punishing me with an increased workload? You’re adding another student for me to babysit?” A tired groan interrupted Alexa’s musings. She looked behind her and saw Wilhelm leaning his back against the doorway to his office. “Though, I suppose I wouldn’t complain that you bought her here. I needed to talk with Phoebe anyway.”

  “Me?” Phoebe asked, awkwardly. “U-um, I’m just here to check in with my friend. She said she’s taking catch-up classes in the afternoon.”

  Tsk. You can’t just look down on me so innocently like that. You make it sound like I’m falling behind everyone else.

  To be fair, she was, but still!

  “You want to help her?” Wilhelm asked.

  “Yes!” Phoebe smiled.

  “Well,” Wilhelm turned to Alexa. “What a surprise. I thought she only came here out of curiosity. But no, somehow you managed to find a genuine friend.”

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  “Of course,” Alexa haughtily played with her elegant hair. “What are you implying with those words, Mr. von Eisen? Of course, someone as perfect as me would find it easy to make many friends. Why? Did you think those girls around me were prop decorations?”

  “Who knows? Maybe they are.”

  “You take that back, you peasant scum!”

  Wilhelm simply laughed at Alexa.

  “I won’t. Anyway,” he urged them to follow him into the room. “Today’s going to be a bit different than usual.”

  “How different?” Alexa asked, still grumpy.

  Wilhelm went to his desk and pulled something out of his drawer. It was an ink bottle. He presented it to the two girls, and Alexa noticed something about it. It smelled…gruesomely awful, disgusting even.

  And the liquid inside was purple.

  “What an unpleasant smell!” Alexa pinched her nose, angered. “Why, of all things, do you keep something like that in here?”

  “Because that’s demon blood,” Wilhelm grinned. “Well, it’s not exactly the blood of your average demon. That’s the blood of one of the Archdemons of Sin. Beautiful, no?”

  “Archdemons of Sin?” Phoebe asked, then she curiously sniffed the container. “Mr. von Eisen, I feel like this thing is dangerous. It…”

  She stepped away, frowning.

  “That thing, it might corrupt people!”

  “It does,” Wilhelm laughed. “Though, it’s nowhere near close to the psychological and physiological effects of being exposed to living demons. It’d take a hundred years before this thing can even cause the most minor symptoms of withering.”

  Alexa stared at Wilhelm’s unhealthy skin.

  So he’s not unaware of it. Then why does he seem like he has no problem with it?

  “…Why keep that here?” Alexa asked. “That’s still dangerous regardless.”

  “Because the mana that’s on this blood is extremely potent. One of the most potent sources of mana out there, in fact. Based on my calculations, the mana in this bottle alone is worth half a ton of 1st-grade mana crystals.”

  “...Half a ton?”

  “With half a ton of 1st grade mana crystals, that’s enough to flatten a town of five thousand people with Adler shützes’ bombardment,” he whisked the bottle a bit. “It’s potent, extremely rare, and no one wants to use it because who would be crazy enough to use an Archdemon’s blood?”

  He laughed lightly, like a maniac possessed, before stopping.

  “But it’s very good for one thing. Glyphs.”

  “...Interesting,” Alexa placed a hand on her chin. “I see. You wish to teach me how to use glyphs?”

  “It’s not the best alternative out there, normally. Most glyphs are drawn using specialized mana ink. But drawing them is difficult, and you’re never going to beat a caster one-on-one simply because casting spells gives you more speed and wiggle room during combat, but…”

  He pulled out a small piece of paper. On it, was a circular glyph of some sort, and the ink used was the color purple. Carefully, he slowly ripped it, causing light to glow around the room, until a bluish field surrounded him.

  “Phoebe, send a simple light energy bolt at me, now,” Wilhelm confidently demanded, shocking even the saintess.

  “But instructor, that’s dangerous—!”

  “Just do it. Or your friend won’t trust what I want to teach her.”

  Phoebe, shaky, pulled out her wand, aimed it at Wilhelm, and suddenly, a white bolt of light struck his shield. The shield shattered from that single shot, and Wilhelm nodded, satisfied.

  Alexa on the other hand, watched with wonder. Her eyes were wide after seeing what had just happened. Without magic circles, without the usage of his gate, or anything but a piece of paper with a drawing on it…

  He managed to cast a protective spell around him.

  Her heartbeat thumped. Magic. True magic, without using one’s weak body.

  Could she perhaps do that too?

  “Princess, you’ve seen what it can do, right?” Wilhelm smiled as he noticed Alexa’s surprise. “You will struggle most of your life to advance your manaheart’s development, therefore, you must augment yourself, and that’s what we’ll start on today.”

  “I…” Alexa snapped out of her stunned expression. “Really? I can do that too?”

  “Of course. Should you dedicate your heart to something,” he picked up the ink bottle again. “You can, and you will be able to do anything.”

  +++

  “Why is it so hard to steady myself?”

  “Lady Alexa, you can do it. I believe in you!”

  “Believe? Girl, have you not noticed my previous attempts? I messed them all up!”

  “Then please believe in me who believes in you!”

  “Cease it, you’re pushing me into tears, Phoebe!”

  “See, I told you! That’s a circle, princess. You’re so amazing!”

  “Perchance, have I actually done it?”

  “It’s garbage. That won’t cast any magic,” Wilhelm suddenly broke the two girls’ jubilation after Alexa finished the hundredth circle on the paper given to her for practice.

  Her hold on her fountain pen began to shake, but she held her temper.

  This peasant really doesn’t hold back when he criticizes me.

  “Mr. von Eisen,” Phoebe pouted at the grim-faced instructor. “That’s a mean thing to say to a girl!”

  “Still, if the princess wants to learn how to use glyph magic, she’ll have to get better at this,” Wilhelm sighed. “By this point, you should have received something, right Alexa?”

  Alexa, now a bit tearful at her failures, noticed something in her notifications.

  “I…received a passive skill?” Alexa’s eyes widened. “My, is this how it’s supposed to work?”

  “Once you try to practice a particular action that may be useful, the system will grant you a skill for that. If it exists, of course,” Wilhelm said. “In this case, you’ll probably get the lowest tier of Glyph Drawing in your active skills. Is that what you received?”

  “Indeed, I received that exact skill,” Alexa said, as she opened her status menu. She went straight for her skills and pressed ‘expand’ to see everything about this new skill.

  Alexa’s eyes widened, disbelief growing. Her efforts, after so many weeks of struggling, of ‘training’, of trying to find herbs and elixirs, of having nightmares at being unable to form her first magic circle…it finally paid off.

  A skill, somehow, was in front of her. Not like those weird skills that just sat there without telling her what they could do, she had an actual skill now! And all it needed was her trusty fountain pen, a piece of paper, and some magic ink, which she could acquire easily with her unlimited money.

  It was…

  Amazing!

  “Now that you have that skill, I should tell you that practicing and learning more about it will help you level it up. Whenever a skill reaches level ten, it will ascend to the next tier, making it even better,” Wilhelm continued.

  “My,” Alexa smiled. “So there is hope after all. In that case…”

  She stood up and pointed at Wilhelm.

  “I’ll draw the best circle you’ve ever seen, Mr. Scary Face. Then I shall draw better glyphs than you. Just you wait!”

  “Did you just call me Mr. Scary Face? That’s the worst nickname I’ve ever received. Talk about a way to repay someone who helped you. Please choke on the next candy you eat and kindly die.”

  “Why you—did you just say I should die?!” Alexa turned irate again.

  “Mr. von Eisen, you can’t just say that to a girl!” Phoebe's cheeks reddened.

  “Heh. Yet I managed to do it rather easily—ow! That hurt! You two can’t just face slap an academy instructor in sync!”