章節 26: First step to war

[3 months later]

I look at my now perfected fireball spell in my hand as Archon Lyrei began to consume the life force of the three orcs, causing their bodies to wither.

Those three orcs were the ones from the raid three months ago that I killed. After the knights found them on the verge of death, it took the healers a whole month to heal them. Then we interrogated them but got nothing worthy, only that they were just a simple raid party.

"Wouldn't consuming their life force with dark arts corrupt your soul, Archon Lyrei?" I asked.

"Normally, yes, but I altered the spell to purify the life force I consume. In exchange, it reduces the life force by 90%, so all that is left is pure life force that is not connected to the soul. Like those three, I was only able to get a year's worth of life force," Archon Lyrei explained.

"What is your age, Archon?" I inquired.

"I'm an old lady, Prince... 1684," Lyrei said as she burned the orc corpses.

"Why didn't you ever join in the wars, Archon Lyrei, especially the one three centuries ago?" I asked her.

"I'm strong, Prince. I'm the most powerful magic user alive, and I'm powerful enough to summon a meteor half the size of the elven city, but I couldn't join the war because of the magic council, an organization created and operated by the strongest magic users of all races. There is even a dragon among their founding members. If I were to join the war, while I could take a few of them by myself, I can't defeat all of them," she said.

'Looks like I have to somehow convince Lyrei to join the war I will wage,' I thought to myself.

"I do not know if I am untalented in the ways of Arcane, but it takes too long to learn a single spell, Archon Lyrei," I said to Lyrei as I dispelled the spell.

"You are too impatient, prince. The first thing I told you when you came here was that learning magic is nothing like the training you did with Naesala.But there is another reason why it takes too long to learn spells. It has to do with our way," Lyrei said as she transformed back into her normal self.

"Thanks to our vast knowledge accumulated over eons through research and practice, we elves have perfected the ways of magic. We have eliminated the need for incantations to cast spells or tools like staffs and wands to guide our magic. This has earned us the title of sorcerers/sorceresses. Other races, such as human mages, still rely on staffs and incantations to cast magic spells. While this is a disadvantage, it is also the reason why they learn magic faster than all other races," Lyrei said.

"Now that you have learned a spell, you need to learn your limits before learning another one. Now, cover only your body with the eternal barrier while I cast the fire torrent spell on you," Lyrei said as her hand started to burn.

I hurriedly covered myself in an eternal barrier as the flames consumed me. While I could feel the heat of the flames, they didn't burn me.

"How do you feel, Prince? Do you feel tired? Maybe a headache," Lyrei said as she stopped her fire spell after a while.

"I do not feel tired or have a headache."

"You're holding yourself well. While I didn't use even a fraction of my power, nonetheless, it's still impressive. Now it's your turn. Throw as many fireballs at me as you can. Don't worry about consuming your life force," Lyrei said as she stood in front of me and tapped my forehead.

Conjuring a fireball, I threw it at her rapidly without stopping.

"Haaaahhh," after using so much of my mana, I felt so tired that it felt like I hadn't slept for years. I also had a headache so painful that I wondered if there were spikes inside my head instead of a brain.

"Now, that was something else, Prince. To think that your magic regenerates five times faster than average. While I know that your body is special, it seems like your soul is far more powerful than I thought. But it's something we can figure out later. Now, sleep," Lyrei said as she once again tapped my forehead.

***

[50 years later]

It's been half a century since I began my magic training, and I have only just finished learning basic and advanced spells. As much as I hate it, I have also learned about the languages and information of other races. I also continue to train with my enchanted training gear, but after four years, the weight became too much to wear. I took a break from wearing it and then gradually increased the duration by one more year each time.

[MC IMAGE]

I rode my moonfurry, wearing my battle armor, alongside Sylvanas, Naesala, and Sylianner, heading towards the Human Barons' territory with an army of 300. The army consisted of 110 knights, 100 rangers, 50 mages, 30 scouts, and 10 healers.

Today is the day we will attack the human baron since his territory is on the verge of being destroyed. 20 years ago, an incompetent took his father's place and became baron. Instead of taking care of his territory and subjects, like his late uncle, he exploited them and turned a blind eye to corruption in his territory. The number of civilians in the territory fell from 5,000 to 3,000, and his army's numbers fell from 2,000 to only 1,000. All of the humans were living inside the town.

***

Arriving at the cliff at the end of our territory, I looked down at the town below us. In the midst of desolate land, it was a gloomy, disorganized town with dirty streets and humans who appeared more dead than alive.

[IMAGE]

"My prince, the army awaits your orders," said one of the ranger captains.

As the commander of this army, although we have two generals with us, Naesala and Sylvanas are only here in case of an emergency since the army is small in size.

"Send five knights, five rangers, and a healer with the mages to guard our surroundings to put wards. Dispatch scouts to gather fresh information about the town, with two rangers accompanying each scout. Instruct the remaining soldiers to establish a camp and rest until we receive an update from the scouts."

"As per your orders," the ranger captain said, turning. But I caught a glimpse from the corner of my eye that she looked at Sylvanas, who nodded before relaying my order.

It's understandable for her to seek confirmation from Sylvanas, considering my lack of experience and the fact that we were attacking human territory, not hunting an animal.

"You are a natural leader, Mirwa, but did you have to grow so big? I can't even properly wrap my arms around you," Sylvanas said, joining me at my side once the soldier had left. I wrapped my arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer as she nestled in my arms, continuing to look at the human town.

[MC Height: 300cm (9'10")]

"I couldn't give a better order myself, Prince Malgath," Naesala said as she stood beside me,her shoulder touching my arm.

"Hey, hey, Elvy, never mind the army or anything. Let's just jump into the human town and burn all of them alive. Come on, come on. I just want to hear them scream in pain and despair. We can kill them. You don't need anyone; they would just take the fun away," Sylianner said as she pulled my hair while jumping up and down on my shoulder.