User blog:YungManzi/The Great Empress Of Riona: Chapter 3

I finally found some hope for me among the books my father brought in; crest magic.

From the hundreds of books I’ve read on the subject, crest magic is actually a kind of ritual magic which draws power from higher beings which people of this world worship. The people of this world worship these so-called “Great Ones”, apparently, they aren’t like gods but actually humans whose magical abilities have surpassed even the gods. A few of them are actually still alive and active in the world today….supposedly.

The symbols which make up the circle in crest magic is also really part of an ancient language and each crest is a sentence from that language which is directly tied to a specific “Great One”. Really, what needs to be done to complete the ritual is; have the appropriate amount of mana present, have a deep understanding of the ancient language, and most of all you have to be favored by that specific Great One.

Apparently, another way to obtain a crest is by experiencing a sudden burst of extreme emotion, but this is mostly unfounded conjecture by some mages.

No matter the crest magic, they’re all extremely potent and can be considered something which could wreak havoc across entire continents...not something to handle lightly.

I’ve studied the Language of the Great Ones thanks to my father and mother’s wealth. An ordinary person definitely couldn’t afford these kind of books, as even an english encyclopedia is outside of the price range of a low ranked noble.

Right now, I’ve begun practicing drawing a crest on the concrete in my backyard using colored chalk my mother had gotten us years ago.

Jade: “Big sister?”

Jazlyn: “Ah, hi Jade.”

Jade sits down next to me, watching me draw the crest on the concrete ground.

Jade: “What are you doing?”

Jazlyn: “Drawing...by the way, Jade, can you do something for me?”

Jade: “What is it, big sister?”

Jazlyn: “Hmm...it’s this. A crest.”

Jade’s face lights up instantly.

Jade: “That’s like the thing mister Gerill had!!”

Jazlyn: “Yep. I’m trying to practice crest magic, which is what I need your help for.”

Jade makes a determined expression.

Jade: “I’ll do it, what do you need big sister?”

Gerill told her the dangers of crest magic, maybe she forgot about that?

Jazlyn: “Yes, I’ll need you to condense your mana inside this jar every day. Even if you only put a small amount of mana in here every day, it should be enough.”

I take a small empty jar out of my skirt pocket and hand it to Jade.

Jade has quite the amount of mana at her age, much more than the average adult, and it’s only growing.

Jade: “I just have to put some of my mana in here?”

I nod.

Jade: “Okay, I can do that big sister!!”

Jade runs off to the other side of the backyard while carrying the jar I had given her...She's quite fast…

I continue practicing drawing crests on the ground.

I’ve figured out the language for the most part, but it’s really much more complicated than it should be, it’s no wonder most people can’t accomplish such magic. Back in my old world, I was multilingual being able to read spanish and cantonese…..but this written ancient language feels much more like a series of complicated math problems than anything else.

As I am still drawing crests, I feel a hand being placed on my shoulder. I easily recognize the hand from its soft and gentle touch.

Jazlyn: “Mama!!”

I look up at my mother with a gleeful smile, which is turned around once I notice her sullen expression.

Julia: “Jazlyn, you have a visitor...He's up front.”

A visitor? Have we ever had any visitors besides Gerill, the fortune teller, and the lady adventurer teaching Jade swordsmanship? I don’t think so.

I immediately dropped the chalk in my hand and wipe off my hands in a towel I had prepared. Then, I walk through the back door of our house and follow my mother towards the front of our house, past the kitchen….

Julia: “Here he is.”

As I reach the front of our house I see a tall man with slicked back black hair and beside him a young boy with black hair and brown eyes. Both of them are clearly upper class nobles, one could tell from simply looking at their expensive uniformed clothes and jewelry. The boy even possesses a glossy sword with a golden hilt and scabbard upon his waist.

Maybe he’s practicing to become an adventurer mage?

Julia: “Jazlyn, this man is the king of Riona’s Lin Hue continent, Arthur Lin.”

Sir Arthur Lin outstretches his hand to me.

Arthur: “Hello, little one.”

As I grab hold of his hand, he tightly squeezes my small and child-like hands.

Jeez, show mercy at least.

Jazlyn: “Hello Sir.”

Arthur: “I see you have good manners little one.”

A let rip a sigh of relief as Arthur releases his hold on my hand. Arthur seems to be satisfied with himself as he looks over to the little boy next to him.

Arthur: “My son, introduce yourself.”

Rinley: “Hello little lady, my name is Rinley Lin.”

Jazlyn: “Ah...Hello, my name is Jazlyn Lancaster. It’s nice to meet you.”

I make a small yet elegant bow as I speak.

Arthur begins speaking to my mother.

Arthur: “As you know, my son was interested in your daughter after seeing her earlier.”

...Huh?

Rinley: “F-Father!”

Arthur: “Boy, you have to be upfront and completely honest when it comes to women. That’s how I got your mother.”

He saw me earlier...How…?

I look over at Rinley once again. His face is completely red as he returns my gaze. He seems to be around the same age as me.

Rinley: “...S-So your name is Jazlyn?”

Jazlyn: “Uh-huh. You want to come play in the backyard with me.”

While making an excited face, Rinley nods his head.

Jazlyn: “Okay, follow me then.”

Rinley quickly follows behind me into the backyard.

Jazlyn: “Jade!!”

Jade: “Yes, big sister?”

Jade quickly comes running, seemingly out of nowhere.

Jazlyn: “This is Rinley Lin. Rinley, this is my little sister Jade.”

Rinley: “N-Nice to meet you little lady.”

Jade: “Nice to meet you too!!”

Jade reaches out for a handshake, and Rinley hesitantly grabs her hand, returning her handshake. While shaking his hand, Jade notices the sword on his waist.

Jade: “Are you a fighter too?”

Rinley: “Um…I suppose so…”

Jade claps her hands together.

Jade: “I can finally have a sparring partner!!”

Rinley: “S-Sparring!?....I suppose we can spar…”

Rinley’s face straightens as he unsheathed his sword on his waist. Jade also unsheaths her own sword.

I take several steps back as I witness the standoff between the two children. Both of them now had stern expressions, and I could see a faint glow of an aura emitting from them. Just experiencing the pressure from so close by started to make me dizzy, so I decided to sit down on the ground a bit further away to observe their sparring session.

I’m rather surprised Rinley accepted Jade’s request for a spar so easily. She must be excited to finally meet another kid who’s a mage in training. This could be a good opportunity to gauge the strength level of the average mage, since both of them are mages in training.

Jade is the one to make the first move. She kicks the ground beneath her feet and thrusts her sword directly at Rinley.

SWOOOSH!!

As their swords clash, a giant blast of pressure emmits from them. The ground shakes beneath them for several seconds before the two both jump back from their positions. They maintain eye contact the whole way through.

Uhh...my eyes can barely keep up with their movements, for two kids, they’re certainly well trained future mages.

Rinley: “RED FLARE!!”

As Rinley slashes his sword, a wave of fire goes towards Jade, with a speed even faster than a bullet.

Jade: “WIND SCAR!!”

Jade slashes her blade soon after Rinley, releasing a slicing wave of wind similar to Rinley’s own wave of fire.

The two elements clash, canceling the two waves out in a truly grand fashion.

Incredible. They both used shortened chants to cast fairly powerful spells.

Aura begins to emit from Jade’s feet before she dashes towards Rinley, seemingly running on an invisible platform as she uses her mana concentrated in her feat to walk on the air itself. Rinley matches and anticipates her movements, delivering a kick to her abdomen before she could properly defend.

Jade: “Ugh!!”

Jade is briefly knocked to the ground before quickly recovering her stance and preparing for another attack. She swings her sword once again, this time aiming for Rinley’s body. Rinley sees through her plan, matching the movements of her sword with his own.

Jade: “You’re pretty strong.”

Rinley: “Thanks, you too.” Jade steps back briefly and prepares to launch a powerful sword attack using all of her strength. Assuming that she will once again aim for his body, Rinley moves his sword to defend his torso...but, Jade doesn’t attack his body, instead she attacks his sword from above.

Completely unprepared for the attack, Rinley’s sword is borrowed into the ground by Jade’s attack.

Rinley: “Ah!!”

As Rinley tries to pull his sword out of the ground, Jade takes that opportunity to aim for Rinley’s neck. Noticing Jade’s movements, Rinley steps back, releasing his sword hilt from his palm and granting Jade the win.

In duels between sword mages, it’s common sense that the first one to release their sword is the loser.

Rinley: “Wow, I haven’t lost to someone my own age before.”

Both Rinley and Jade sheath their swords, and Jade outstretches her hand.

Jade: “I’ve never even fought anyone my age before.”

Rinley smiles as he shakes Jade’s hand, Jade returns his smile with her own.

We all spent the next few hours playing in the backyard until Rinley’s father finally came to take him back home.

Rinley: “See you tomorrow!!”

Rinley produced a great smile as me and Jade waved him off at the front door of our house.

Seems like he’ll be coming every day from now on, huh?

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