Adelheid 7: Mana Mutation

"Your Highness, you seem more excited than usual today," Matilda said, seeing Adelheid gulping down the purple tonic in one breath.

"Do I?" Adelheid asked as she stopped herself from making a face and gagging. The last time she did that, Miss Sauer went on a tirade on how unbefitting such an action was for someone of her station.

Matilda and even Sofia nodded in agreement. Adelheid revealed a slight smile. "It has been nearly a month now. Of course, I am excited."

There were only a few days left before her teacher, Eric Redland, moved on to the next step of teaching her magic. Since that day, she had been practicing her mana control every single day, even on Voiday.

Adelheid spread her arms out, allowing Matilda and Sofia to change her clothes. While she waited, Adelheid raised her finger up, and from her finger, a thin string of mana a meler long could be seen.

The visible string of mana was formed using a technique called mana visualization. Although it only appeared to be a thin string, in reality, the invisible mana being emitted was enough to shroud her body several times. In other words, Adelheid could only manage to visualize that thin string.

"Your Highness, can you not generate wind while we change your clothes?" Matilda grumbled.

Due to Adelheid's actions, her billowing mana formed wind that caused Sofia and Matilda's jobs to be that much harder. Sofia should have rebuked Matilda, but she stayed silent, showing that she agreed.

Adelheid coughed and reigned her mana back into her body. She did not apologize because a member of an imperial family must not lightly apologize to anyone, even if they were wrong. She would lower the prestige of the imperial family or something, according to Miss Sauer.

After changing, Adelheid went to one of the dining rooms to have breakfast. Then she trained under Olga's supervision until thirty minutes before her lessons with the governess, Miss Sauer. The extra time was for Adelheid to take a bath and switch out of her sweaty training clothes.

As time passed, Miss Sauer was left with fewer and fewer subjects she could instruct Adelheid on, and as such, Adelheid had much more time since the lessons became shorter and shorter. Today was one such day. Adelheid would have focused her free time on practicing her mana control or browsing the books in the imperial library, but one of her father's butlers asked for a moment of her time.

The butler was already over fifty, but he maintained his body well and was slim but not skinny. His mustache and beard were well-trimmed, coupled with his slicked back hair and elegant demeanor, eight of ten maids and even some nobles secretly pined after him.

Much to Adelheid's amusement, his name was Alfred.

Alfred led Adelheid and her maids to a large room with a table filled with all sorts of fabric.

"What is this for?" Adelheid asked.

Alfred smiled and rubbed the tip of his mustache. "Prince Albrecht thought it'd be best for you to choose the materials your new clothes will be made of."

"New clothes? What for?" asked Adelheid.

"Your brother, Prince William, will be returning from the eastern border soon. Your father thought it'd be best to make some new clothes for you to receive him," said Alfred with a smile as he closed his eyes. ‘I wonder how much the young prince has grown since I saw him.’

"Really?" Adelheid asked. "Has the tension between the empire and the Beast Kingdom been resolved?"

"Not yet," said Alfred.

"Then why is William coming back?" Adelheid asked. Last she heard, he had just been stationed at the border for not even half a year yet.

Alfred chuckled at Adelheid's bewilderment. "Because His Highness wishes to see his dear sister who had awoken after her three years of sleep. Not to mention that it will be your birthday in a month."

Adelheid blinked before what Alfred said dawned on her. "I see, that would make sense."

‘Although I wonder if he should prioritize my birthday over the safety of the empire. Well, it is not something a princess with no power should question. Besides, William is only seventeen this year, so he's still a child. I am not sure how old people of this world assume responsibility. But I am certain that the empire won't wholly entrust the border security to him, so returning should have no impact.’

Adelheid began to inspect the materials presented to her after thinking things through. Alfred explained the origin and history of each material by the side.

"This," Alfred pointed towards a bolt of fabric that exuded a faint blue sheen, "is Traurig Fleece, woven from the wool of a species of goat native to the Traurig Mountain Range. Not only will it keep you warm in the harshest of winters but it is also water-resistant."

With Adelheid's newly acquired sensitivity to mana, she could see that mana had been intricately entwined into the fabric, granting it magical properties. The seventh princess ran her hand through the fabric and was surprised at how fluffy it felt as if she was touching clouds. ‘If this were used to make pajamas, it would be heavenly.’

"I want it," Adelheid said as she brought the bolt to her face and brushed it with her fingers. It felt really good to the point that she considered just laying on the ground and falling asleep while hugging it.

"What kind of dress would you like?" Alfred asked, pleased that his prince's child was happy with the gifts. The materials were tributes that the nobles, officials, and merchants had offered to Prince Albrecht.

"Dress? I want them to be sewn into nightwear," Adelheid said, affronted that such a fluffy fabric would be made into a dress. She did not want to dress as a sheepkin, thank you very much.

On another note, beastkin existed within the empire, but most of them were prisoners of war with the Beast Kingdom that had been turned into slaves. Adelheid was quite interested in meeting one someday.

"Nightwear, Your Highness?" Alfred asked, slight disbelief in his voice.

"Mhm." Adelheid nodded. She specified that the finished product had to be a loose shirt and jacket. With pajamas, she'll be equipped to deal with the changing seasons. ‘Come to think of it, it is almost the Month of Darkness. Fall will end, and the cold wind of winter will arrive soon. Without realizing it, I’ve been here for almost a year.’

Putting the thought away, Adelheid continued to peruse the fine offerings. Most of the items did not catch her interest. Not even the intricate brocade woven by the master weavers of the Holy Seraph Kingdom caught her eye.

"Hm?" Adelheid's steps stopped as she spotted a plain white bolt of fabric. Against all the other bolts of fabric, it stood out for being pure white without any embellishment. At the same time, Adelheid felt the mana that was imbued within. It was even greater than the famed Traurig Fleece.

"Has the renowned mana silk caught Your Highness's eyes?" Alfred asked as he stroked the tip of his mustache.

"Yes," was Adelheid's curt response.

"What does Your Highness plan for this bolt? We have common silk, but mana silk like this is incredibly rare, and we do not possess much of it," Alfred asked.

"Mana silk? Common silk is just plain fabric without any attributes, correct?" Adelheid asked as she stroked the white silk. The silky texture was extremely comforting against her fingers, but what Aldeheid liked more was the soothing chill transmitted.

"Indeed, but calling it common silk does not make it any less rare. Only the island nations of the west know the secret to its creation. Even after all these years, no one else could steal the secret," Alfred said with a sigh. "Had it not been for Count Auor's Gold Firm, only the imperial family would have been able to afford to tailor new clothing out of silk every year."

"Oh, why is that?" Adelheid asked. She also had knowledge of silk in her memories, but she wasn't sure the silk under her hand was the same as the one in her head.

"Distance and location. The Vuldar Empire is located on the eastern side of Veles, so distance is always a problem. The only water route that leads through the Vuldar Empire also crosses into the Beast Kingdom. Your Highness can imagine the difficulties of using such a route," Alfred said.

"Hmm," Adelheid made a noncommittal sound, and her eyes became unfocused as she processed the information. ‘Even if it is not the same, I should also be able to process something similar to the silk of this world. It is a possible future venture.’

"I want this silk as well. What other properties does it have?" Adelheid asked.

"As it is mana silk, with the proper treatment, it will offer greater protection than most leathers. It also has a high resistance to low-level spells and greater resistance to water magic. This is just a conjecture, but it is hypothesized that silk comes from a type of sea creature, hence it is more commonly known as sea silk," Alfred explained.

Adelheid nodded, and she thought of a question. "How much would this bolt of silk cost?"

Alfred held his chin and sank into deep thought. "I'm not an expert, but I would estimate it to fifty thousand kronen at the very least."

Krone, kronen for plural, was the national currency of the Vuldar Empire. It was minted in platinum, gold, silver, and bronze. A platinum coin was worth ten thousand kronen, gold kronen coin was worth a hundred kronen, silver which was worth a ten kronen, and copper which was worth one krone.

The seventh princess blinked as she realized she couldn't compare it to anything, so she could not comprehend what the number meant. "How much is my monthly stipend?"

"A thousand kronen," Alfred's reply was instantaneous.

"Urk!?" Adelheid made a sound unbefitting of her stature.

There were fourteen months in a year, so Adelheid's yearly stipend was fourteen thousand kronen. That meant that Adelheid had to save for at least three and a half years for the bolt of silk under her hands. And that was the lowest estimate. Most likely, the bolt of mana silk was far more costly.

‘There goes my plan to make pajamas out of mana silk,’ Adelheid thought.

"W-what about common silk?" Adelheid asked. Common silk should be far less than mana silk, right?

Alfred held back a noticeable chuckle upon seeing Adelheid’s reaction. "Much cheaper."

Adelheid released a sigh of relief but immediately stiffened when the butler finished his sentence.

"For a bolt that size, only nine thousand kronen."

Adelheid looked at the ceiling. ‘I never realized that a princess could be so poor.’

Of course, the thought was in jest. Compared to the commoners of the empire, a thousand kronen was most likely a fortune that they might not even be able to earn in their lifetime.

After that little episode, Adelheid perused the rest of the materials, but none of them caught her eye like the silk. Just as Adelheid thought she was done, the butler brought her to another room. This time, it was to choose the materials for her jewelry. Adelheid had no great love for jewelry and arbitrarily chose a few red gems.

The red gems were a type of mana absorbent stone known as ichorite because of its beautiful red luster. It was a precious gem known to store vast amounts of mana. The legend behind it said it was the condensed blood of the gods, hence its name.

In fact, all the gems brought before the seventh princess were known to be able to store large amounts of mana. They were probably gathered to make new mana suction magic tools for Adelheid.

For the rest of the day, Adelheid didn't even practice her mana control, shocking even Matilda and especially Sofia. It was only after Adelheid repeatedly assured the two that nothing was wrong did the two stop relent in their worry.

In fact, another matter was on her mind. ‘Should I try to recreate silk? If I could, with how difficult it is to procure silk from the island nations, I'd be sure to make a fortune. The only problem is that I need to find a silkworm or something similar. Another issue is that I can't exactly order people to search for these insects. How would I even do that in the first place? Is my monthly stipend enough to hire these people? Speaking of which, I wonder if I received any stipend during my three years in a coma.’

It all came down to the same issue: money. She needed to spend money to earn money. Adelheid was not a true child, and she had over twenty years of experience of living in society, albeit in a different world. People may disdain money, but the truth of the matter was that there was little that money couldn’t buy, even loyalty. As someone who knew this and spent her earlier years robbed of all her inheritance, Adelheid knew that she needed to amass a fortune for her goal.

Besides, relying on the whim of another did not sit well with Adelheid, even if that someone was her so-called father.

‘For now, I’ll brainstorm some ideas to make money and send some people to search for silkworms. I'll also need to scout the city and see what people lack.’ Plans of business nagged at Adelheid throughout the next few days. It wasn't until Adelheid's lesson with Eric Redland that she placed her money-making scheme aside for the time.

"Show me your progress, Your Highness," Eric said with the same fawning smile he always had.

Adelheid nodded. She hadn't noticed the first time, but the room she took her lesson in was not Eric's laboratory where he studied magic. Adelheid came to this conclusion because the residual mana was sparse. Certainly, it was denser than other parts of the palace, but the mana was pitifully sparse for a mage's laboratory. She couldn’t detect it the first time, but after a month of practicing mana control, things changed.

Closing her eyes, the seventh princess rid her mind of excess thoughts. When she opened them again, there was a clear determination in her eyes. She held out her hand and cupped the air in front of her chest. Moments later, the tips of her fingers began to glow as strings of mana emerged and formed a ball between her hands.

"By Iras's eyepatch!" Eric Redland exclaimed.

As if discovering some sort of strange creature, Eric began to observe the ball formed from strings of mana while circling Adelheid. His eyes were like a microscope, analyzing and storing all details of the petite girl.

"Mister Redland, is something wrong?" asked Adelheid. The court mage's gaze was making her hair stand on end.

"Wrong? Absolutely not! Why, if anything, I believe this far more than outstanding. The act of making mana visual is called mana visualization, but you are not visualizing mana. What you are doing is an advanced technique known as mana manifestation. Although it is called an advanced technique, all mages need to know it before casting a spell. Amazing, simply amazing," Eric Redland said.

"I thought advanced techniques took years to master. Is that the reason why mages are so rare?" Adelheid asked.

"Oh heavens, no." Eric chuckled as he stopped circling Adelheid. "If mages needed to learn mana manifestation before casting spells, then the number of mages would be even more pitiful than now."

"That doesn't make sense. You just said that mages need to know mana manifestation before casting a spell," Adelheid said.

"That was my fault, I wasn't clear in my words." Eric reached towards a shelf and held his wand. The tip of the wand began to glow as a string formed of mana came out. The biggest difference between Eric's and Adelheid's string of mana was no turbulent winds as a result of no excess mana.

It only took a moment for Adelheid to discover why. "I see. Wands are a tool that helps focus and control mana. With it, advanced mana control such as mana manifestation is easier to master."

Eric nodded his head in satisfaction. "As expected of his highness's child. Wands are a crucial tool for every mage to cast spells. Mages are able to cast spells without wands, but there is a higher chance of the uncontrolled mana disrupting the spell and causes the mage to tire easily."

"But you can cast mana without wands if you master mana manifestation?" Adelheid asked.

"Your Highness is partially correct, but the time needed to master such a feat would be wasted. Without a wand, casting a first circle spell is already a hundred times harder, but the difficulty exponentially rises with the number of circles. It isn't worth it," Eric said.

"Oh," Adelheid was slightly disappointed.

"But with Your Highness's talent, it isn't impossible, just extremely difficult. Mastering such a skill will make it easier to cast higher circle spells. Among the empire's forces, only the current Imperial Guard Knight-Captain Griselda Ritter is famed for her ability to wandlessly cast third and fourth circle spells," Eric said.

"It's not one of the court mages?" Adelheid asked. She'd expected a mage of renown to be able to cast wandless spells over a knight.

Eric Redland chuckled. "Mages are creatures who run on logic. We won't needlessly divert our attention to a usele—niche skill such as wandless magic."

‘You were about to call wandless casting useless, weren't you?’ Adelheid inwardly snarked but didn't say anything. She had already stopped manifesting her mana. "What do I do now, Mister Redland?"

"Now, we make your wand," Eric Redland said with childish glee unsuitable for his age. ”But first, I must explain the intricacies of wand creation.”

“The relationship between a mage and their wand is close to the point that many mages called their wands their other half. Such intimacy was the bond between mage and wand.”

“No mage would allow another to use their wand unless in the most direst of circumstances, not their father, not even their spouse. Some mages would even prefer death. For another mage to do so was an act of humiliation greater than cuckolding that mage's spouse, it is an act of the greatest degradation. To use another mage's wand is a greater shame than rape.”

“A wand is an intimate part of a mage. All mages will create their own wand. Some mages even compared wand creation to childbirth because the mage will dedicate all their resources and time to the creation.”

“Because each person is unique, the wands created are all unique as well. No two wands are alike. They may be similar, but never the same, just as no two people are entirely alike.”

"Well, that part only applies to a mage's personal wand," Eric said. He raised the current wand in his hand. "This wand is something I made on the side, so if another mage uses it, I won't feel the slightest shame."

Eric slapped the wand onto his palm as he thought of another point. "A mage's personal wand does not always remain constant either. As a mage grows, they often find their wands failing to keep up, and so, they discard it for a newer one, much like how a noble will change his heir depending on their capability. Or how a man will forsake his old flame when he finds a better woman."

‘Those are terrible examples.’ Adelheid had to wonder if something traumatic resulted in her teacher’s current worldview.

In the Vuldar Empire, a noble's title is not eternal. A title is separated into three ranks, for example, a duke of a first rank, a duke of the second rank, and a duke of a third rank. The rank does not determine the authority of a noble. Instead, it represented a countdown.

The founding emperor, Ofnir von Vuldar, decreed that with each generation, a noble's title will be degraded. The son of a first-rank duke will become a duke of the second-rank. A third-rank duke's heir will become a first-rank marquis. The process will continue until the noble becomes a third-rank baron. The baron’s children will have no titles to inherit.

Unlike the Holy Seraph Kingdom, the Beast Kingdom, and many other kingdoms, nobles of the Vuldar Empire had no land. They were Nobles of the Robe. In other words, their power stemmed from judicial and administrative posts such as a minister appointed by the ruler.

Only the most skillful of nobles could retain their title. Some could even raise the rank of the peerage depending on their ability, but most of the time, their ability could not rise to their title.

For a noble to raise their title, they must hold a position above their noble title. For example, the Vuldar Empire had seven ducal posts: the prime minister and heads of the six ministries. However, attaining the post of a minister does not automatically raise the post holder's title.

If a third-rank marquis were to attain the post of minister, his title would be raised to the first rank. His son would inherit the father's second-rank marquis title. Then the son or heir after would need to become a minister to raise the rank of the title again until the house finally reached the rank of duke. However, to raise a ducal rank from third to second and first, the noble must become the prime minister.

Due to the above reasons, nobles of the Vuldar Empire often chose the most brilliant child as their heirs.

Just from this process alone, it was easy to see the founding emperor's Machiavellian personality. Not only did this centralize the emperor's authority, but it also guaranteed the abilities of the noble officials.

As for Eric's analogy with an unfaithful man, that was just his bad taste. Seriously, why was he using such a vulgar comparison in front of a seven-year-old princess?

Adelheid's thoughts must have shown on her face because Eric coughed into his fist and diverted the subject. "Strictly speaking, wands are just the simplest focal tool that mages craft. In reality, some mages use other tools such as staves and even rings. I won't get into the specifics, but the size of the focal tool determines the speed and power of the spells cast."

"Larger focal tools such as staves offer more power, but in turn, they cause the spell construction to dramatically slow down. In contrast, smaller focal tools such as ring or bracelet casters offer speed, but their tiny size prevents their wielder from casting more potent spells. Wands offer the wielder the ability to cast potent smells—though not as powerful as staves—and decently fast spell construction. So most mage's first focal tools are wands," Eric explained.

The court mage turned around to cast a spell, causing one of the tables on the other end of the room to slide near the two. On the table were branches of different tree species with shiny gems and crystals strewn all over. Comparing the neat and tidy arrangements of the bolts of fabric by Alfred, Eric's presentation was practically a pigsty.

Not that he seemed to notice. If anything, he seemed rather proud.

"Now, the two most important components in the creation of a wand are the wood and magic stones. I have arranged them in an orderly manner before you," Eric said as he gestured towards the wood on one half of the table and the magic stones on the other half. On both sides, they were just haphazardly grouped together.

"For now, ignore the specific properties of the materials and choose one or two branches and one magic stone. Just choose whatever appeals to you, touch them if you like. Perception is intrinsic to magic, so the more pleasing the materials, the better," Eric said as he stepped away, giving Adelheid space.

She walked up to the table and did her best to ignore the irritation welling up within her due to the mess.

The aspiring mage inspected the magic stones first. She knew that magic stones were the hearts of monsters, creatures able to utilize magic. The source of the magic was the stone formed of condensed mana within the monster's body. These magic stones were a significant source of power for all of society.

As the military was tasked with the elimination of danger—chief among them were monsters—for the safety of the citizens, the imperial court was also tasked with the sales and distribution of magic stones. It was unlike the smaller nations and empire's borders where adventurers were hired to dispatch the threats.

An enormous magic stone the size of her fist immediately caught Adelheid's eyes. For one, it was the largest one on the table, and none of the others came close to half its size. The rest of the magic stones had sizes ranging from the size of her pinkie nail to her thumb. The second feature that caught her eye was the golden brilliance of the magic stone. It was a color more mesmerizing than topaz.

Adelheid reached out to touch and immediately shrank her hand back upon touching it. It was as if an electrifying shock had been transmitted through her fingers and into her body. There was no pain, but it still felt as if some part of her had been violated.

"I forgot to mention that touching magic stones directly often brings unwanted surprises. A good way to select your magic stone is one that feels pleasant to the touch."

Adelheid snapped her head around and glared at Eric's fawning face. ‘That would have been nice if you warned me ahead of time.’

Taking a few deep breaths to suppress her irritation, Adelheid resumed her selection of magic stones. This time, she ignored the large magic stone that caught her attention first and looked at the others. The magic stones primarily came in red, yellow, green, blue, white, and black, with a few exceptions, such as the multicolored magic stones. Grouped together, it made for a colorful image.

In Adelheid's opinion, black was a good color, but it worked better as the dominant color. Her eyes turned towards the second color that caught her eye, red. The color red fascinated Adelheid in a way that she could not explain. She felt that she could stare at it for hours for no explainable reason. Perhaps it was the color that stained her parents’ bodies the day of their death, or maybe it was her own blood that fascinated her. Whatever the reason was, the seventh princess felt an intimate connection with the color red.

Gingerly, Adelheid brushed the surface of all the red magic stones with her fingers. Most of the time, a fiery heat would force her to retract her hand. Like earlier, there was no pain, but something more akin to a phantom sensation. ‘These must be magic stones from fire-attributed monsters.’

The few times that the red magic stones didn't transmit a burning sensation, Adelheid discovered that she didn't like the touch of them. Just as Adelheid thought none of the red magic stones would feel right to her, her skin grazed the perfect one.

The magic stone was a perfect sphere, small enough to fit in the palm of her hand easily. Its color was a blood-red at the center with the color lightening the further away it was from the core. More crucial was the feeling that Adelheid got when she touched it. When her skin came into contact, a warm feeling flowed out and seemed to merge with her mana.

The red magic stone was like a portion of Adelheid that she never knew she lost.

"What a surprise."

Adelheid almost jumped out of her skin upon hearing those words. She had been so entranced in the mesmerizing sensation that she had forgotten the world around her. Adelheid looked at Eric quizzically, doing her best to mask her earlier shock.

If the court mage saw through her, he was doing an outstanding performance of pretending not to. "Does your highness know about attributes?"

Adelheid nodded her head. During the time she was practicing her mana control, she had visited the library to do self-studying on the topic of magic. Unfortunately, against her wishes, the library did not contain any advanced information on magic, only facts that everyone knew.

Each person, not just a mage, had at least one attribute they had an affinity with. The attribute was what allowed them to cast elemental spells. There were a total of six predominant attributes: light, darkness, fire, wind, water, and earth.

"Although rare, there are some special attributes that can't be categorized. In fact, they aren't even based on the elements such as contract, time, space, curse, and plant attributes," Eric said.

"Does that mean that I won't be able to learn magic from you?" Adelheid asked with a frown.

"Oh, heavens no," Eric Redland said. "Attributes are just your natural talents in magic manifesting. Even if you don't have an affinity with certain attributes, with enough time and patience, you will be capable of casting them. Not to mention that there exists a slew of attributeless spells. The only problem is that low affinity locks you out of advanced spells or advanced attributes. For example, only a select few people are born with the holy attribute, an advanced classification of the light attribute."

Affinity could be trained like muscles, but it was better to train one you were talented in than one that you had no talent in. However, there were some things that effort could never replace.

"Then what about me?" Adelheid asked as she rolled the marble-shaped magic stone in her palm.

"I cannot be sure. That magic stone came from an ichor slime, a slime that lives in a unique location where ichorite is mined. It feeds off the ichorite dwelling in the mines, and as a result, it has mana absorbent properties. Coupled with its nature as a slime, it is a problematic monster for mages and knights to face. I cannot say what attribute you possess, but if I had to guess, it would be a mutated water attribute or an advanced earth attribute."

Adelheid took in Eric's words, but she felt that both the listed attributes were wrong. However, that was not important right now. After selecting the magic stone, it was time to select the wood. Having already decided on the color earlier, Adelheid began her selection among the black-colored branches.

Once bitten, twice shy. Fearing a repeat of her earlier experience with the large, golden magic stone, Adelheid cautiously touched the wooden branches. Thankfully, there was no abnormal sensation transmitted into her body.

‘What was I thinking? Magic stones transmitted those sensations because of their nature. How could wood be the same?’ After criticizing herself for becoming so timid—something she blamed the court mage for—Adelheid continued to touch all the branches.

The branches had all been preprocessed. Their barks had been shed, and all of them were cut into similar sizes.

After some time, Adelheid began to grow frustrated. Although touching the magic stones was an unpleasant experience, it was an easy method to select the right one for her. However, the wood did not react to her at all.

‘Think, there must be something that I have not thought of. That damn court mage must be hiding something from me just like earlier. Why did the magic stone react to me? What was conveyed to me was not magic but the feeling of mana. Perhaps while its mana was being transmitted to me, my mana was also transmitted to it. Although the nature of wood and magic stones is different, utilizing mana should be the correct method in selecting the most suitable wood for me.’

Adelheid glanced at Eric before turning back towards the branches. She raised her hand and placed it on one of the branches. Next, she began to visually emit mana and attempted to insert it into the wood.

The wood exploded into a thousand fragments.

"My, my. It seems like ordinary wood can't withstand the power of your mana," Eric said offhandedly.

‘So it is because I placed too much mana into it? I should look for a wood that can withstand my mana instead of reducing it. And a little warning would have been nice.’ Adelheid pointedly ignored what sounded like a snicker from the court mage.

After several more attempts and explosions, Adelheid narrowed down her choices. It was between a branch of pure white and a branch of pure black. Both the branches were several times heavier than all the other branches despite being the same size.

In the end, Adelheid chose the black branch. ‘I like the sensation of my mana flowing into the white wood better, but I like the color black more. The difference in flow is not that much different, so it should not matter too much.’

"Excellent, now we can move onto the wand creation… is what I'd like to say, but we already spent too much time, so it shall be delayed until our next lesson."

Adelheid's spirit, which had just lifted upon the first part of Eric's sentences, immediately plummeted. "Mister Redland, after I learn spells and use up my mana, will my body heal?" Adelheid asked.

"Heal, that is an incorrect term. Strictly speaking, there is nothing wrong with Your Highness’s body. It is your natural state, so why does Your Highness think it is essential for you to learn magic? If it is just a matter of too much mana, those mana tools should be sufficient."

Adelheid stayed silent, unsure of the answer. No matter how much she tried to think of an answer, she came up blank. Finally, she shook her head. "I do not know."

Instead of directly answering, Eric began to speak of another matter. "In the Vuldar Empire, there exists a unique place known as the Canyon of Divine Wrath. Legends say that it was a remnant of the battles between the gods and the first monsters. The dense mana that exists there makes it nearly impossible for ordinary animals and monsters to live there. Do you know how monsters are created?"

"Monsters didn't exist naturally?" Adelheid asked, understanding the implication of Eric's words.

"No, at least not all of them. You can say the monsters formed from the Six Calamities are natural-born monsters. They breed with other monsters and produce offspring with magic stones within them. The second source of monsters originated from dungeons, holes leading into the ground. However, there is a third method."

The fawning smile on Eric Redland's face receded, and he gazed directly into Adelheid's eyes. "When a normal creature is placed into a mana dense environment of which their body cannot handle, there are two results. Either they die due to being unable to withstand the mana, which is most of the time."

"What is the other result?" Adelheid asked, already having an inkling of the answer.

"Mana Mutation. The creature's body adapts to the dense mana and forms a magic stone, becoming a monster."

"So if I do not learn how to control my mana, I will either die or turn into a monster?" Adelheid asked, her voice full of disbelief. "How is that possible?!"

"The court mages and healers all suspect it is due to your lineage. Halflings born of humans and elves are already rare, but there has never been a halfling born from a ljos Alf, the greatest of all elves. We speculate that you inherited the natural mana of your mother, but you did not inherit her body. Perhaps, that's why the Principality of Alvarius is so against the birth of halflings from their lineage," Eric said. His tone was frighteningly calm to the point it was as if he was reciting a research essay and not the condition of the princess standing in front of him.

After leaving, Adelheid locked herself in her room for a week.