Foresight (1)
“Ice Ball, Mana Wall.”
A magic circle formed instantaneously on Asella’s staff, manifesting its mystical glow. Mana, mere flowing energy moments before, turned to ice and shot toward the enemy, while also forming a shield to protect the caster.
Bam! Bam! Crack!
Asella’s attack spells struck the training dummies in rapid succession. Seymour, watching the scene, stroked his mustache and nodded approvingly.
“You’ve gotten quite comfortable with continuous casting. As expected, ice magic suits you better than fire or lightning. Focus on improving the precision of these spells.”
“Yes, Master.”
Asella wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand.
“Shall we take a short break? Your personal physician advised resting once every hour.”
“Just a bit longer.”
Boom!
Asella continued her practice. Right now, she needed to hone her skills even a little more. She absolutely could not lose to Georg. It was a duel where the loser would lose everything, whether prince or princess. No matter the clash between heirs, the emperor wouldn’t look favorably on a merciless killer.
Georg probably wouldn’t go so far as to take her life unless cornered, but her personal physician was an exception. He was dead set on killing Ras. In this duel, she had to overwhelm him completely.
Fortunately, Seymour was on the side of Asella, the mage.
“A duel by trial, was it? I can’t bear to see my disciple lose to some sword-swinging brute.”
Seymour snapped his left hand upward with a pop, casting a spell. The sword and shield in the dummy’s hands flew off and clattered to the ground.
“Disarm spell. 2nd Hierarchy. Essential when you have to fight vanguards alone. Come to think of it, Asella, I haven’t taught you many practical spells.”
“That’ll create an opening. But even casting just offense and defense takes time. If I can’t follow up with the next spell first, I’ll be the one in trouble.”
“‘I’ll be the one’? You mean you’re worried about your partner getting hurt?”
Asella hesitated at Seymour’s question, his eyes crinkling at the corners.
“Well… if the young master falls, I’m next.”
“Haha, the old you would’ve used him as bait while preparing a grand spell.”
“That’s one strategy. But the risk is too high. Fail, and there’s no coming back.”
The very premise of her magic missing or failing was uncharacteristic of Asella. Seymour, delighted by her recent changes, approached and spoke quietly.
“Shall I share one secret? This is proprietary knowledge I’ve never told anyone.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Aren’t you curious how I cast spells so quickly?”
“Of course. You snap your fingers and activate them without even drawing the circle.”
“I store them.”
“Store them?”
Asella tilted her head at the unfamiliar term.
“Precisely, I memorize them perfectly. Even familiar spells vary slightly in circle shape, size, and mana volume each time.”
“True.”
“Once a spell is perfect and consistent, I input it as a bodily reflex. Like dodging a flying ball without thinking.”
“So, you train so that certain actions automatically cast the spell?”
“Exactly. In my experience, bending the second joint of a specific finger works best.”
Seymour held out his left hand. He cleared his throat and subtly bent his ring finger.
Whoosh!
Without warning, a hole tore open in the sky, and a flock of pigeons poured out before scattering in all directions.
“Hm, I meant to summon a storm spirit, but the nest must’ve moved.”
“You stored a summon?”
“And more. Different finger combinations let me store hundreds of spells.”
“What if you trigger it accidentally in daily life?”
“Add a preparatory motion. For me, it’s a throat clear.”
“Got it.”
Asella crisply crossed both arms neatly below her chest with a pop. She practiced Disarm while bending her left ring finger.
“Flashy, but useless if you lose an arm.”
“True drawback.”
Asella continued practicing spells for the duel. Even after Seymour’s lesson ended, she didn’t stop her magic training. She reviewed and repeated today’s lessons. She tried the spell storage technique, but it wasn’t easy. Bodily reflexes don’t form overnight, after all.
“Whew.”
Growing weary from the repetition, Asella decided to rest as Ras had advised. Her favorite way to relax: more magic practice. Unlike other princes or princesses with hobbies like riding or hunting, Asella found the most joy in casting spells. Especially lately, she had one she was eager to use.
“Foresight.”
A 5th Hierarchy spell beyond ordinary humans’ reach. Magic branches endlessly beyond basic utility spells. Elements are foundational, but even they have countless sub-branches; most mages master only three in a lifetime.
Foresight was time magic. Even Seymour hadn’t mastered time magic, so he’d researched it from books to teach her. It was challenging for Asella too, still in the practice stage.
“Maybe the trick is placing the base circle in a higher dimension.”
She interpreted and modified the circle her way, constructing it. Five layers were too much; it stopped at a 128-sided polygon.
Asella had always loved magic circles that spun fiercely when infused with mana.
Whoosh!
“Huh?”
Normally, the connection would break here, but today, the initial activation occurred. Asella’s vision, hearing, and all senses suddenly flipped.
Startled at first, she soon realized she’d succeeded with Foresight. Her body remained, but she couldn’t control it. Even her breath was taken by another will.
Where is this…
A familiar sight. She’d been here before winter’s chill fully lifted: the Gotberg Marquisate.
“Asella, pull yourself together.”
The warning voice beside her belonged to Empress Camilla. Asella calmed her startled heart. Foresight showed one of countless possibilities—a potential future, a scene that might come.
“Thank you for your care. I wish you good health.”
Her personal physician bowed and departed for the marquisate. Asella was briefly surprised, then puzzled. The physician wore priestly robes, not a gown. It was Gis, a finalist in the selection exam.
The physician had been dismissed. Like any other healer, he’d been useless to Asella.
“My regrets, Your Highness.”
Marquis Gotberg bowed in apology. His territory’s top talent from the training center had proven incompetent, indebting him to Camilla.
“Marquis. Regrettably, that physician was dismissed even from the Imperial Medical Office for incompetence. He couldn’t measure Asella’s mana circuits.”
“Mm.”
“This is a great loss for Moonlight Palace. Compensation is needed.”
“…Within possible limits.”
“Has the lady saintess still not awakened?”
“That’s…”
“From now on, serve at Moonlight Palace.”
Camilla used the physician issue to gain leverage over the marquisate. Not planned from the start, but she’d always sought such openings. Asella, who’d seen Camilla exploit her countless times, knew her aims well.
If I hadn’t chosen Ras.
Could this have happened? Moonlight Palace still flowed by Mother’s will.
Then where’s Ras?
Bang! The drawing room door burst open. A tousle-haired young man staggered in, bottle in hand.
“Hey, when your fiancée’s here, shouldn’t you fetch the lord of the house first? Huh?!”
Drunk, face beet-red. Spouting nonsense in broad daylight, Asella couldn’t help but smirk.
“Ras! There’s a noble guest. Get out!”
“Hah, you think I’ll stay cooped up in this house forever on Father’s orders…? You’ll see! When that girl becomes empress? I’m somethin’… anyway, big shot!”
“Knight, remove Ras at once!”
Tanya dragged out the whining Ras. Pitiful, unable to stand. Seeing him, dark glee welled in Asella’s chest.
Ras, you should be grateful to me.
Without me, you’d still be the marquisate’s wastrel. I made you human.
You need to see this scene.
“Apologies for the disgraceful sight. Regarding the physician, we’ll compensate somehow…”
Whoosh!
The brief casting ended, and Asella’s vision returned. She flexed her hand slightly.
“Hm… not a perfect cast.”
Full Foresight showed multiple possibilities simultaneously, letting her roughly specify time or location. For political clues in succession battles.
But.
“Ras, you pathetic man.”
Asella thought she needed to find a way to record Foresight visions in a crystal orb. He’d become as obedient as Max if he saw that.
Ending her enjoyable hobby time, Asella resumed practical training for the duel trial.
The duel trial made my schedule packed. Sword training with Tanya, checking Asella’s condition, preparing medicines and injections. And one more task amid it all.
I headed to the Imperial Medical Office annex. It housed patient rooms, exclusive to royals—no civilians allowed. Currently, one outsider: the western duke.
I knocked on the doorframe of the knight-guarded room. Alberich, treating the duke, scowled and stormed out.
“What is it? His Grace is under Wood Palace’s care. By His Majesty’s order.”
“I know. Just checking his status.”
“I’m in charge—why interfere? More folk remedies?”
“Medicine.”
“Same thing…!”
“Is that Gotberg physician?”
A voice from inside. Alberich stepped aside grudgingly. Entering, the duke lay pale on the bed but smiled warmly at me.
“It’s you. I’ve wanted to see you. Heard you had trouble.”
“Haha, nothing serious. How’s your body?”
“Much better, thanks to you. Without you, I’d be in the ground. Lethal black magic. Death crept up the moment I drank.”
“You suffered. Here’s a prescription and medicine to aid symptoms. Follow it for quick recovery.”
I handed him the prescription: detox-friendly foods, exercises, etc. Instructed to use medicine if worsening.
“Thank you. I’ll follow your guidance. Convey my regrets to the princess for not thanking her personally.”
“Leave it to me.”
The duke was stable enough for other healers. Ignoring Alberich’s grumbling about “folk remedies,” I left.
Poison viciously wrecks healthy bodies. Maybe Georg would reflect after experiencing it himself.