"MONSTER!"
kael blinked.
"…Is that a compliment?
The words echoed through the garden like a curse cast in moonlight.
And just then—
A cold, mechanical chime resounded in Kael's head.
[Congratulations]
[You have mastered a Rank 1 spell: Moon Blade]
###
[Conqueror's System]
[Name: Kaelion Drenlor]
[Title: Certified Treacherous Bastard]
[Race: Human]
[Affiliation: House Drenlor (Kingdom of Velmora)]
[Rank: Noble – 3rd Son of the Duke]
[Talents : Horse Riding: (D), Swimming: (E), Swordsmanship: (C) Mana Control: (SSS)]
[Spells: Moon Blade ( Rank 1)]
[Primary Objective: Claim the Duchy !!
[Reward: Rank 4 Spell – 'Crimson Veil']
###
Kael blinked.
Oh good.
Confirmation.
And then—
The system, ever the dramatic cryptid, displayed a glowing panel.
The same one he'd tried—and failed—to access earlier.
[Talent: Mana Control — SSS Rank]
Kael squinted.
Now it shows up?
The description unfurled slowly.
Painfully.
[Talent: Mana Control — SSS Rank
Host possesses extremely rare mana control talent.
— Spell learning speed: Inhuman.
— Casting speed: Comparable to lightning.
— Simultaneous casting: Possible.
— Mana corruption chance: Minimal, even with high-rank spells.
— Mana pool: Expanded beyond natural limits.]
Kael read it.
Then re-read it.
Then read it again, just to be sure his brain wasn't having a stroke.
So I'm a spell-slinging prodigy with world-ending potential...
Fantastic.
As if just remembering she existed, he turned toward Selene.
She was still frozen in place—staring at the obliterated tree like it had personally insulted her thesis paper.
Her lips were moving.
Quietly.
Repeatedly.
Kael leaned in.
She was muttering.
"No... no, that's not... he can't... I spent six months just sensing mana—"
He sighed and gave her a gentle shake.
"Hey. Selene.
You okay?"
She snapped back like a rubber band, inhaling sharply.
Then she stood.
Then she exploded.
"How? How did you do that?!"
Her voice pitched up several octaves, eyes wide, hands flailing like a woman on the verge of committing justified murder.
"You said you couldn't even sense mana!
You—you've got this aptitude — this good—and you've just been... walking around like some decorative cabbage?!"
She jabbed a finger at him.
Accusingly. Offended.
"This isn't your first spell, is it?! You've done this before!"
Kael raised both hands in surrender.
"Whoa, okay, breathe.
Just... sit.
You're hyperventilating."
He gently steered her to the grass like a bomb disposal expert disarming a very emotional mine.
She sat, reluctantly, arms crossed.
Still glaring.
Kael exhaled and plopped down beside her.
He felt like a fraud.
Like some shady noble schemer who had hidden his true power for years, waiting for the right moment to strike.
Except he hadn't.
He really hadn't.
So he tried the next best thing: vague bullshit.
"I don't know," he muttered, running a hand through his hair.
"Maybe... maybe that poison cured me or something."
Selene turned slowly.
Her face was blank.
Too blank.
The kind of blank that preceded either a murder or a breakdown.
"...Poison cured you?" Selene said, her voice so flat it could've been ironed.
Kael nodded, solemn as a priest lying at a funeral.
"Well," he said, gesturing vaguely,
"I recovered from that poison without a single antidote, right?
So maybe—just maybe—it knocked something loose.
Like, cured my mana aptitude.
Dormant potential unlocked by near-death stupidity."
Selene stared.
Kael offered a small, earnest smile.
The kind that saidtrust me,
I'm not lying, I'm just wildly improvising.
She sighed, long and tired, like someone who was too exhausted to argue with delusions that came wrapped in pretty faces.
"…Maybe," she muttered, too drained to bother contesting it.
A pause settled between them.
A quiet one.
They both stared at the moons. One full, one slivered.
Like they were also judging silently from above.
For a moment, it was almost peaceful.
Then, without looking at him, Selene said:
"Should I also drink that poison?"
Kael choked.
Audibly.
"Are you mad?!"
She grinned, not turning her head.
"I'm joking.
I'm not a lunatic."
Kael stared at her, wheezing, then sighed like a man aging ten years in ten seconds.
He sat up straighter.
"…Teach me a Rank 2 spell."
He braced himself for sarcasm.
Or another insult.
Instead, Selene's expression shifted.
All amusement drained.
She looked at him fully, eyes serious.
Like a mentor about to smack her pupil with truth instead of a staff.
"Kael," she said. "Listen carefully."
Her tone was quiet. Heavy.
"You never rush power."
Kael blinked.
"You're sounding like one of those robed cult guys now—"
"I'm serious."
She leaned forward slightly.
"When you learn a higher-rank spell, your body needs time.
Time to absorb the strain.
Time to adjust to the weight of the magic."
She looked him dead in the eye.
"If you try to learn—or worse, cast—a Rank 2 spell too soon… it won't just backfire."
"It'll kill you."
Kael stared at her.
Then looked up at the moon.
"...Well," he muttered, "that's not ominous at all."