“You wish to train?”

Princess Caecila tilted her head. Ateia nodded.

“Apparently, we’d be in danger if we followed the lead at our current strength.”

Princess Caecila frowned.

“But you’ll be with Miss NSLICE-00P, correct? Should I have a word with the Magister?”

Ateia shook her head.

“I want to get stronger. I don’t want to make NSLICE-00P do everything for me.”

Princess Caecila nodded and turned to NSLICE-00P.

“What do you think of this, if I may ask, NSLICE-00P? We are more than happy to assist if you’re willing to delay your quest for this.”

“Answer: This unit’s investigations are pending responses by Empire units. Upgrade routines for the friendlies has been determined as the most beneficial course of action at present.”

Princess Caecila nodded.

“I understand. In that case, let me show you somewhere you can train…”

Princess Caecila went back to the Imperial palace to change, giving NSLICE-00P a chance to deploy her registered monsters. Agedia decided to join them as well when she heard their plans. The princess then returned in light armor filled with mana, and led the group outside the city, into the swamp to the north. Ateia nearly called out when she moved to step directly into deep water, only for the Princess to vanish entirely, followed by her entourage.

Agedia sighed as she saw it, whispering to herself.

“Never thought I’d come back here…”

NSLICE-00P’s robotic eye flickered. She could detect a barrier of some sort, but could not view past it via any means. Even including her Dungeon Field generator.

And there was only one explanation for that scenario.

NSLICE-00P stepped inside the dungeon.

Once she passed the barrier the swamp vanished. She found a walled compound guarded by two legionnaires, with several buildings inside. Princess Caecila turned to them and smiled.

“This is the Imperial family’s private dungeon, accessible only to Imperial Knights, the Imperial family, and those they extend invitations to.”

Ateia blinked repeatedly.

“The Emperor has a dungeon?”

Princess Caecila nodded.

“Apparently the Imperial Knights encountered and subjugated this dungeon back when Corvanus was a small fishing hamlet. The demon lord inside apparently surrendered in the face of their overwhelming might. Seeing the monster was unusually intelligent and humble for its kind, Emperor Marcellus showed mercy, and spared its life. In exchange, the Emperor received a promise, making this dungeon a safe place for his descendants to challenge themselves. Or so the story goes.”

Taog raised an eyebrow.

“I thought the Empire doesn’t deal with demon lords?”

Princess Caecilla nodded.

“I thought that too, before I joined the Imperial family. But it seems reality is more complicated than what we were taught. Whatever the case, it is true that this dungeon is remarkably restrained. It will be a perfect place for you to grow.”

Princess Caecilla led them past the guards after confirming her identity. They passed the walls into a large compound with several structures. Princess Caecilla pointed to each of them in turn.

“Over there is the Imperial family’s residence, you may rest there if you wish. It has a fully staffed kitchen for your convenience, as well as all the amenities expected by the Emperor. Over there are the Recovery experts, should something happen. We have an armorer here as well who can maintain and repair your gear, and a stockpile of weapons and goods.”

She moved further in, where there were two stone arches, each holding a swirling vortex.

“These are the entrances to different parts of the dungeon. This one is the Imperial Family’s dungeon. The monsters there will challenge you but the dungeon does its best to avoid permanent harm. Please remain cautious though, combat is always dangerous. Also note that there are generally no chests or loot besides the monsters’ cores. The other one is the Imperial Knights’ dungeon, which we believe was the original dungeon as well. That one functions as a normal dungeon, and a difficult one at that, so I would caution you against challenging it.”Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

Princess Caecila then led them to the stockpile. Ateia and Taog stared at the weapons for a while, but ultimately decided (aka were forced by Agedia) to stick with their own gear, simply stocking up on potions and consumables. Once the group was fully supplied, they made their way into the Imperial Family’s dungeon…

Taog stood face to face with a club-wielding orc, dodging its blows. He held the Dark Blade in one hand and his short sword in the other, so without a shield he didn’t feel confident trying to block the monster’s heavy club.

Well, even with a shield he wouldn’t want to tank a blow from that thing.

He looked for an opening, but the orc’s swings gave him pause. He couldn’t get in range without risking a hit.

But that was fine, because he wasn’t alone.

Ateia shot an arrow towards the orc’s face, forcing it to block with its club. Taog took the opening and rushed in. As he did, Princess Caecilla formed a magic circle in the back and Taog’s swords began to glow. He stabbed them into the orc’s exposed torso, bringing it down. Princess Caecila didn’t necessarily need the levels, but she took the opportunity to brush up on her skills and fought alongside the two.

The moment Taog saw the kill message from the Aesdes he moved on, where 00B and the other monsters were delaying another orc. NSLICE-00P’s monsters were a bit lower level than he and Ateia, so they had to remain cautious to avoid the orc’s attacks, but they could still keep it distracted.

Agedia, Typheras, and the princess’s guards stood on standby, watching the fight, ready to intervene at a moment’s notice.

Meanwhile, NSLICE-00P was compiling data from the Library. She had focused on more fundamental knowledge regarding mana and world lore, but that didn’t mean she hadn’t recorded a good number of magic circles as well. Off to the side, she formed a new magic circle.

A lot of magic circle scrolls were left as Class Three or lower, largely because the Empire wasn’t particularly worried about anyone reading them. Casting a spell based purely off a drawing of a magic circle simply wasn’t practical…or safe. Magic circles were complex and intricate designs that needed to be constructed with the utmost precision. Even a minor deviation could cause the spell to fail, or to have unintended (and potentially lethal) effects. To manually construct such a circle from memory, much less while trying to reference a drawing, was…not recommended by any mage who does not enjoy self-immolation. So, to cast a spell from a drawing would first require long and rigorous study to ensure the mage in question could draw the spell perfectly from memory alone. Then they would practice constructing individual parts of the spell with their mana until they could not only do it perfectly, but have it drilled into their magical ‘muscle memory’. Only then would they attempt to construct the overall circle.

Oh, and that was assuming the original author drew the circle correctly in the first place, and that the conversion from a mana-construct to written ink hadn’t resulted in any discrepancies. Or that the scroll itself hadn’t suffered any wear and tear over the years that might have slightly modified how the circle appears to the reader. Any of which could cause the spell to fail or explode even if the user perfectly emulated what was recorded.

All in all, with the amount of effort an individual would spend learning to cast even a single spell recorded on paper they could have simply acquired the relevant school of magic skill from the Aesdes, and just let the Aesdes impart the knowledge into them. The manual process was good for beginner mages to ensure they had a solid foundation and to save their boons for better uses, but no one would significantly expand their spell list simply by reading books in the library. And even if they did, they would have only gained a new school of magic with maybe one, single-digit level spell. Practice and repetition meant as much as study for the mystic arts, contrary to popular belief. Only at the Senior Mage level and beyond did comparison with other spells start to find use, which is why most mages simply specialized in a few or even just one school of magic.

And if someone did want to learn spells outside of what they received from the Aesdes, the right way was to receive tutoring from someone else who knew the spell they wanted. That way, they could share the intuitive knowledge granted from the Aesdes, and warn the tutee as to any errors in the circle.

Unless, of course, one had a perfect memory, and mind capable of making direct comparisons between a magic circle drawing and every magic circle they already knew to predict likely discrepancies, and trial countless small adjustments until they found a viable pattern, with immaculate magic control to prevent any accidents.

A magic circle formed in front of NSLICE-00P, and then a small patch of the ground began to shake.

You have learned the spell Tremor!