Chapter 37

At the beginning, everyone has big dreams.

As time passes, reality sets in. After just a short time of training, Roka realized that even defeating a single auntie in front of her was beyond her capabilities, let alone hoping to become a hero.

“Kid.”

A dazzling golden dragon, its mouth tightly shut, glared at her. The princess, perched atop the dragon’s head, yawned. A dragon signifies the pinnacle.

The creature among creatures. A fortress towering in the sky. A transcendent being that can no longer be called mortal.

Dragons were objects of reverence and admiration for all earthly beings, and countless attempts were made to imitate them. The Dragon Form Technique was one such answer and attempt by the first emperor.

“Your magical power has color but no form, no imagery.”

As if the surrounding magical power was dominated by this dragon, the magical power within tens of meters was instantly depleted. All that magical power was sucked into this golden Dragon Form Technique.

In the past, she couldn’t maintain this state for long and simply used it to explode and defeat her enemies. But now, having grown stronger and broken through the master’s realm, it was as easy as eating cold porridge.

In fact, creating Power Techniques is easy. Not that difficult.

With enough magical power, some talent, a bit of effort, and guidance from a master, even a child can do it. Once you learn the knack of compressing and exploding magical power, it becomes easy to produce.

However, Power Techniques created this way are colorless and formless.

Magical power is the power of the world, the universe itself, and as everyone knows, the universe has no attributes. The sun and moon, lightning and wind, mountains and seas, fire and water. Even stars and light, and darkness.

All attributes come from the universe, and thus the universe can contain any attribute.

Color is individuality. Colorless means no individuality.

No individuality means it can be dyed any color. The primal Power Techniques have no attributes or color, but as the owner trains, color emerges and attributes are determined.

No matter how large and powerful a colorless Power Technique is,

it is common sense that it will crumble and erode upon contact with a colored Power Technique.

Because the levels of the techniques are different. Unless there’s a massive difference in the amount of magical power, it’s natural that someone who manifests a colored Power Technique has more magical power.

“And that color, it’s not something you created through training, right?”

In cases like Roka, who are born with unique attributes of magical power, they can naturally use colored magical power. It’s like starting a step ahead, but the form of the magical power must be grasped by oneself.

“Ugh…”

“The amount of magical power you have isn’t small, but it’s not at a great level either.”

The princess’s magical power has color, form, and even imagery, embodying her own Power Technique at the master’s level.

No matter how much Roka emitted the power of the sun and moon, she was inevitably overwhelmed by the Dragon Form Technique.

It’s not about showing the difference in power or establishing hierarchy, but this itself is a form of training. At least, if she can create a form for her magical power, she might be able to deliver a blow to this Dragon Form Technique.

Just as a liquid hitting a solid will scatter weakly, but a solid hitting a solid can make an impact sound. Like throwing an egg at a rock, it will break, but at least it makes a sound.

“How do you create the form of magical power…?”

“I don’t know.”

The wolf looked at the princess, who irresponsibly replied, with a dumbfounded expression.

Noticing the gaze belatedly, the princess shrugged her shoulders.

“Really, I don’t know. The form of magical power is different for everyone, and the knack varies too.”

“You’re not messing with me, are you?”

“Your magical power’s form isn’t something anyone else can find for you. If it were that easy, who in the world wouldn’t be able to manifest a Power Technique? You have to find it yourself.”

Magical power can be seen as dead. It follows its own rules, but it never shows signs of breaking its own rules.

On the other hand, people are living beings.

How one uses this tool called magical power varies from person to person, and one’s own method doesn’t apply to others.

Even if they originate from the same Primal Body and belong to the same species, people are different beings, and magical power follows that person’s traits.

Roka, who had been intently watching the princess, soon agreed. She couldn’t completely believe it, but she didn’t think the princess was doing this just to torment her.

If this is training, how should she draw out her magical power? How can she escape the pressure of this dreadful Dragon Form Technique?

‘Sun.’

The magical power manifested by the Phylogenetic Seedling.

The power of the sun, the emperor reigning during the day.

‘And the moon.’

The potential she bloomed through her own efforts.

The power of the moon, the master quietly shining in the night sky.

Until now, she had only emitted this power without form. For those who can’t handle magical power, this alone is effective, but to those who have trained even a little in magical power, she would look like a novice.

‘What if I use these two to create the form of a wolf?’

The realization that came from seeing the Dragon Form Technique.

Roka, who wanted to create a form like a wolf wrapping around her body, realized at the start that this was a complete mess. She didn’t have the training methods the princess had mastered, nor did she have the dragon’s lineage that assisted in forming the Dragon Form Technique.

She was of the wolf clan, the Rangin tribe, but that didn’t help in creating a wolf-shaped technique. As Roka struggled, the princess sighed deeply and withdrew a significant amount of the magical pressure.

“Still not working, huh. Well, you can’t be full from the first bite.”

“Still, you say?”

“What we just tried was like trying to build a roof without a pillar. We had time, so we gave it a shot, but the proper way is to start from the basics.”

Before shaping the form of magical power, creating the color of magical power is essential.

Roka’s magical power already has color, but that’s the color naturally created by the power of the sun and moon. It’s not Roka’s own color, and it also means the girl heavily relies on these two attributes.

“Kid. If you set aside the sun and the moon, what’s left for you?”

A question that had to be raised someday,

and it’s better to address it now than to face it in front of an enemy.

Roka tightly closed her mouth.

Because the princess wasn’t wrong.

“Only colorless, odorless magical power remains. You haven’t taken a single step beyond that.”

Although she gained the power to control the sun and moon’s magical power through the Phylogenetic Seedling,

there was naturally no growth in other aspects. The princess pointed out that weakness.

“My color is gold. The golden Power Technique isn’t exclusive to our imperial family, but at least in this era, it is. I’ve heard that the second-ranked demon emperor, Harmail, uses a murky white technique.”

Whether it’s the strong or those not yet called strong, the colors of magical power vary, and there’s no such thing as the strongest color. Only the strongest exist.

“Grimudo… I don’t even know if it uses Power Techniques, but anyway, there’s no superiority or inferiority in this color. Kid, not as a royal but as your master, I ask, what is your color?”

“Why are you my master?”

“Hey, you…”

This insolent brat.

As the princess was about to get angry at the wolf’s rude attitude, Roka finally chuckled.

“Just kidding. Thank you, auntie.”

Actually, Ardein often thought of herself as quite shameless,

but it seems she’s raised a wolf cub. What a bewildering child.

“Sorry, but Roka doesn’t know about that.”

Her own color? Roka had never seriously thought about such a thing.

And she didn’t need to think seriously about it.

The sun just shines, but people give it meaning.

None of those meanings fit.

Your own color isn’t made but drawn out. People don’t know themselves, and they can’t move their hearts as they wish.

Just as magical power projects the form, it colors the heart like a mirror.

Naturally, just like breathing.

Like a fish swimming by moving its fins, Roka emitted her magical power. Not the sun, not the moon.

The most fundamental magical power that anyone can reach out and make their own, colorless and attribute-less. Yet, it is also both the sun and the moon, containing all attributes of this world, including rain, wind, and lightning. The most fundamental power that can transform into any attribute.

This universe isn’t made only of the sun, nor only of the moon,

but all the attributes and systems we know are intertwined and living within it.

The child who thought she was wearing a mask wasn’t as fragile as she thought.

She yearns for affection, has someone she loves, and depends on that person.

But she has no interest in others. No malice, no goodwill. That cold heart turned blue and seeped into the magical power.

In that blue light, a streak of black mixed in, creating a dark blue Power Technique. Black means extinguishing all other colors. Any color that touches black becomes black, murky.

Only those with extraordinary determination and will can create a black Power Technique. A single dark blue line scratched the space dominated by the dragon, freeing some of the magical power. The magical power, boiling, was sucked into Roka.

The dark blue magical power slowly revealed its color and surged. If this were a battle, the dragon would have scattered the magical power with a single roar, but training and battle are distinctly different.

And they must be different. The princess instead scattered the Dragon Form Technique.

“Now you can at least protect yourself.”

Without a single exaggerated word, she simply said well done,

but inside, she was quite shaken.

‘What is that, it’s not just talent anymore, is it?’

The princess, who had grown up hearing she was a genius, had felt inferior only once.

The champion of the Church Country, who broke through the master’s realm she couldn’t reach despite being younger, the hero Yurinel Larkponsia, was a great pressure to her.

But here, there’s a talent surpassing her. Finding one’s own color after just a few words is something even Ardein, at her most brilliant, could never have done.

‘Maybe, really maybe.’

That wolf wouldn’t believe her if she said flour makes bread, but she follows Kyle’s words without a single protest.

Meaning, if she can somehow win over Kyle, Roka comes as a bonus.

‘Couldn’t I use that child as my strength too?’

If Roka, after growing stronger, helps her with her revenge, nothing could be more reliable.

After all, her loyal forces are all scattered or fallen, most have betrayed or escaped. Even if she gathers them again, it’s doubtful they’d amount to much.

If she has to start from the bottom anyway, there’s no reason not to eye talent like Roka.

“From now on, don’t call me auntie.”

“I’m grateful for the training help, but I can’t call someone twice my age ‘sister.'”

“Then how about master?”

Roka’s expression turned strange.

The princess insisted, changing her words.

“Or teacher.”

First, establish a master-disciple relationship.