Became The Son Of The Final Boss [EN]: Chapter 21

21.

The Shadow Guild members never neglected their duties as maids and servants. Soris was no different.

A table was set up in one corner of the training grounds.

I widened my eyes.

“What’s this?”

Soris replied briefly to my question.

“You can have lunch right here in the training grounds and continue your training. Time is short. Not only for the spring evaluation, but also…”

Soris paused, then said quietly,

“In the end, the only thing you can rely on is your own strength.”

I nodded at Soris’s words.

‘Not bad. More trustworthy than boasting about his guild or his abilities.’

Soris’s words were the truth in this world. In a world ruled by the logic of power, the most reliable thing is ultimately one’s own strength.

To protect the position of Crown Prince and rise to the top of this empire, politics, wealth, and influence are important, but above all, strong personal power is the most crucial.

I ate lunch with Soris and Ken. Both of them strongly declined to sit at the same table, but I insisted.

There was no need to eat separately, and I didn’t want to waste time since we had to train together in the afternoon.

After a short meal and break, we decided to contract with the Earth Spirit after Soris’s lecture and before sparring with Ken in the afternoon.

We hadn’t contracted with one in the morning because a high-level spirit had suddenly appeared.

Since low-level spirits were summoned on the second call for both the Wind and Water Spirits, the Earth Spirit wouldn’t be much different.

Soris hadn’t interfered much in the morning to assess my current level, but he said he would give more detailed advice in the afternoon.

First, I took a breath and summoned the Earth Spirit.

Unlike the morning when the training grounds cracked as if there had been an earthquake, now the ground in front of me trembled slightly.

A small old man, not even reaching my knees but with a beard long enough to touch the ground, appeared.

Smiling, the old man’s voice was directly inputted into my head.

-It is an honor to meet the friend of the earth.

I offered the gnome [a small, earth-related spirit] a contract, and the gnome made a contract as if it were natural.

With two sylphs [air spirits], two undines [water spirits], and now a gnome, I had contracted with a total of five spirits.

And as soon as the contract was completed, Soris summoned his spirits.

I couldn’t hide my curiosity as it was the first time I had seen someone else summon spirits.

They were an intermediate Wind Spirit and a low-level Fire Spirit.

“I have the greatest affinity with Wind Spirits. My affinity with Water and Earth Spirits is so low that I can’t even summon low-level ones, and I can only summon one or two low-level Fire Spirits.”

Soris’s tone, as if he were calling spirits like beasts, was annoying, but I listened to him for now.

Reading my mother’s Spirit Grimoire [a textbook or manual about spirits] and actually hearing a spirit caster talk felt very different.

‘Mother… didn’t express spirits like beasts.’

Mother and Soris had different attitudes towards spirits, and that may have led to a difference in skill, but I couldn’t confirm that right away.

Soris continued.

“Usually, a spirit caster has an affinity with two attributes of spirits. You can divide them into one main attribute and one sub-attribute. Wind is my main attribute, and Fire is my sub-attribute. And you… you will probably be able to handle all spirits as your main attribute.”

Soris looked like he couldn’t believe what he was saying.

“Anyway, since I’ve seen it with my own eyes… let’s move on from the fact that your spirit affinity is at a level that ordinary spirit casters can’t imagine, and the first thing you need to do is to harmoniously control spirits of different attributes.”

“Harmoniously?”

When I asked, Soris nodded and waved his hand.

“Fire Wind!”

It was a slightly embarrassing shout, but I didn’t turn away.

‘In this world, it’s natural for mages to shout magic casting and spirit casters to shout spirit techniques. Even knights shout their techniques while fighting.’

It’s not just a simple shout. The act of saying the technique itself stimulates the mana hole faster and has the effect of strengthening the technique.

‘I set it up that way, so fortunately, I can communicate with spirits with just my mind, so I don’t have to shout techniques while fighting.’

The power of Soris’s Fire Wind was considerable.

The intermediate Wind Spirit, Sylphere, created a large wind, and the low-level Fire Spirit, Salamander, spewed flames on top of it.

The two attributes of spirits met and created a new type of attack.

I exclaimed in admiration.

Bang-!

The Fire Wind hit the floor of the training grounds, making a loud noise.

Soris explained.

“You can launch a much more powerful attack than simply using an intermediate Wind Spirit or a low-level Fire Spirit. It can also make things difficult for the opponent. The advantage of a spirit caster lies in the variety of attack combinations. To do that, it’s important to create attack techniques by combining at least two attributes of spirits.”

I nodded.

“Most people take up swords. Swords are the easiest weapon to become moderately strong with, although it’s difficult to reach the extreme. Magic is a discipline that is difficult to even enter in the first place, and spirits can’t even be contracted with if you don’t have affinity.”

Ken agreed with Soris’s words.

“Yes. Many strong people use various weapons, but swords are the most common. It would be good for Your Highness to first learn how to deal with swordsmen.”

I was lost in thought at the two people’s advice.

‘I have no choice but to unlock skills.’

* * *

After dinner, I continued to contemplate skills that combined different attributes of spirits.

‘The only way to unlock skills is to get a lot of bonus stats and unlock them.’

There were two ways to unlock skills in the system window I set up.

The first was to unlock them with bonus stats, as I had thought before, and the second was to receive rewards for completing quests.

“This world is a living world…”

The future can change depending on my choices.

Even Arun Carl Leord’s fate has already been twisted, and the atmosphere of the Imperial Palace at this time is completely different from the short few lines I wrote.

The status window is the same. There’s no guarantee that only what I set up will be there.

‘First of all, what skills would be good to have?’

Before making efforts to unlock skills, I first envisioned good skills.

‘Like Soris said, most people in this world use swords. Sword Masters are accepted as absolute powerhouses in the world. And anyone can easily access them.’

I calmly reviewed my sparring with Ken.

‘The difference between me and Ken is… mana manipulation ability, but above all, movement.’

Ken is very fast as a Sword Expert.

The speed at which he thrusts his sword is beyond what my skills can keep up with. The only reason I can use the Water Barrier right before Ken’s sword pierces my body is because I communicate with spirits through my mind.

The moment I’m careless, Ken’s sword is always close to my body.

‘A little slower.’

I closed my eyes and drew a picture. Not just Ken’s sword.

‘Is it footwork after all? It’s advantageous for me to keep my distance as much as possible, and it’s advantageous for Ken to keep me within his sword’s range.’

A spirit caster has a much longer range than a knight. Without using weapons, spirits can coordinate even when they are far apart, as long as there is enough mana.

‘Apart from the speed of swinging the sword, my movements themselves are much slower than Ken’s.’

I moved to the desk.

“There should be footwork since I put in martial arts settings too.”

‘Hero Karen’, which combined so many settings.

I felt confident in surviving in this world, even though I thought the readers had a right to criticize it.

Because I have a wealth of setting knowledge and know various ways to acquire new abilities.

“Ah, the martial arts settings are only available when you go to the Southern Continent…”

I smacked my lips, closing the notebook. If I could only learn the footwork from the martial arts settings, I could show movements superior to those of knights.

During his adventures, the protagonist Karen happens to go to the Southern Continent, where he gains knowledge about footwork and internal energy.

Based on the status window, he completely makes the martial arts settings his own, gaining a strength that is on a different level from the Sword Masters of the Central Continent.

“I can’t go to the Southern Continent right now… and Karen was able to go to the Southern Continent by chance.”

The Central Continent, where the Calpheon Empire is located, is a continent larger than Africa on Earth.

The distance between the Southern Continent and the Central Continent is considerable, and there was no shipbuilding technology in the Middle Ages to navigate that far across the sea.

Karen only went to the Southern Continent purely by chance and with the help of mages.

I packaged that as the protagonist’s lucky encounter.

‘I’m not the protagonist of the story, and this isn’t a novel, it’s reality.’

I cleanly gave up on going to the Southern Continent. It would be nice to go to the Southern Continent, which is full of martial arts masters, at least once, but that’s still a distant future.

“I’ve found a solution for now. I need to unlock a skill similar to footwork.”

First, I excluded the Water Spirit.

The characteristic of the Water Spirit is defense.

Each spirit has its own characteristics.

The Wind Spirit is good for attack and agility, the Fire Spirit is good for attack, and the Earth Spirit is good for defense. Each attribute has different fields in which it exhibits good efficiency.

I thought of the Wind Spirit, which has the characteristic of agility, and the Earth Spirit, which is good for both defense and agility.

Wouldn’t a good skill come out if I properly combined the two attributes of spirits?

“The problem is how to combine them.”

It seemed better to ask Soris for advice than to worry alone.

He’s not my official teacher, but Soris is the only person I can ask for advice.

I didn’t forget my mother’s Spirit Grimoire either.

I looked at my mother’s Spirit Grimoire once again.

My mother used spirits in really diverse ways.

The fact that she was a high-level Spirit Master was felt more strongly as time went by.

You see as much as you know.

The contents that I didn’t know what they meant at first came into view one by one.

So far, I have understood the early part of my mother’s Spirit Grimoire.

Before moving on to the middle part, my mother described the spirit utilization method I needed with the expression ‘movement’.

“Indeed.”

-If you entrust your body to the wind and receive help from the earth, you can move faster and more flexibly than a Sword Master.

In conclusion, this means that spirit casters can move as fast as Sword Masters.

-Furthermore, if communication with the spirit becomes closer, the wind will read the enemy’s killing intent and push my body away first, and the earth will capture the enemy’s slightest movement and move me to the most advantageous position.

Isn’t that amazing?

“Is such a state possible?”

Before questioning it, I summoned Sylph.

Perhaps it was because she read my mind? Sylph blinked her big eyes and created wind.

I got off the desk and walked with the feeling of entrusting my body to the gently blowing wind.

“Huh?”

-You have seen a new path.

Along with the system’s voice, the wind embraced my body, and the floor shook.