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"I got 5 bucks that says he's awake right now." Helena said.

 "I've got 10 that says he's reading." Kaguya added.

 "I'll put 20 on him talking to Treesa." Momo smiled.

 "She has been there quite often to take care of him." Kaguya nodded, "Despite how much she hates Mistral."

 "Well, I'm sure Roko will be able to keep her from going insane." Helena shrugged, "In fact, 40 bucks he's doing that right now."

 "Wow, you're pretty bold." Momo chuckled.

 "Corissa, you want in on this?" Helena asked.

 "Eh? Not really..."

 "Aw come on, this is pretty low risk betting."

 "Yeah, about that." Roland frowned, "Aren't you all princesses? Can't you guys bet way higher than that?"

 "What do you want us to start betting houses or something?" Helena scoffed, "We're just having a bit of fun. Only so many times we can visit Roko in the hospital before it becomes old."

 "Besides, we can't recklessly spend royal funds like that." Kaguya added.

 "So you guys aren't actually going to pay out?" Roland asked.

 "No, we will." Helena shrugged, "Why wouldn't we? Roko's gotta be doing something now that he's mostly healed again. In fact, I say if none of us are right, the money goes to Corissa."

 "Sure."

 "Okay."

 "That's not necessary..." Corissa sighed.

 "Nope, that's your bet now, Corissa." Helena nodded, "Anyway, here we are!"

 Helena flung open the curtain to the medical tent where Mistral was sitting at the front desk reading a book again.

 "Welcome." Mistral said in her usual monotone voice, "Here to see your friend I assume?"

 "Yep!" Helena grinned.

 "Second bed in the back. Though you probably don't really need directions."

 "Oh hello!" Treesa smiled as she walked out from behind the curtains, "Roko's awake right now. He's-"

 "Wait! Don't tell us!"

 Helena's party all marched over to Roko's bed. Helena gripped the curtains, taking a dramatic pause first, before she flung open the curtains. Roko sat there on the bed, propped up by pillows, hands up, practicing archeomancy. A small series of sighs left the princesses' mouths as they all pulled out their wallets and handed Corissa a couple of bills.

 "No, you don't need to-"

 "Just take it, Corissa."

 Corissa looked a bit concerned but took the bills nonetheless.

 "So whatcha up to, Roko?" Helena said as they sat around Roko's bed, "I hear you can use magic now."

 "Does it look like I can cast magic now?" Roko scowled as the mana around him moved sluggishly into shape, "I'm back to sucking at magic again."

 "Weird." Momo blinked, "I was looking forward to seeing you do some actual magic."

 "Do you remember when you first did it?" Helena asked, "Maybe you're forgetting something?"

 "I did the same as I always did, it just happened was easier." Roko growled, "I have no idea what's going on."

 "Hm. I think you know more about magic than any of us so we can't really help." Kaguya said.

 "Aren't you all supposed to be studying primarily magic?"

 "Yeah. Why do you think we're still in school?" Helena smirked.

 "Fair enough." Roko sighed.

 "Let's go over your fight." Momo asked, "Maybe we can figure out what went different."

 "Not much to talk about." Roko replied, "I'm certain Corissa already told you the story."

 "Yep." Helena smiled, "Sounds like a hell of a fight. Who knew you'd beat the same demon twice? Once is already pretty impressive."

 "Beat the demon but lose to the human." Roko sighed, "Though I don't think I'd be able to beat Alec even if there wasn't a demon in the way."

 "Is this guy really that strong?" Helena asked, "I mean, he's just a human who can't use magic right?"

 "I mean, Roko's a human that can't use magic, right?" Treesa asked.

 "Not true, Roko technically knows two spells." Momo explained, "He just doesn't know any traditional spells."

 "So...he's like Roland?"

 "Not a high bar to be honest." Helena shrugged.

 "So...like Mikado?"

 "Unfortunately still not true." Roko sighed, "That bastard knows a swordstyle."

 "I heard." Momo raised an eyebrow, "What did you say it was?"

 "Oath of Apocalypse I believe." Roko answered.

 "Yeah, that's a pretty big deal." Momo nodded, "Paladic oaths are pretty powerful and swearing one is pretty rare nowadays. With no gods to back the promise of power, paladins and priests are all but extinct. Oath of Apocalypse had a patron god before but they're gone as far as I'm aware."

 "But the oaths still work?" Helena asked.

 "Oaths are power given in exchange for a definite promise. So long as you do not violate your oath, the power should still be accessible to you."

 "You're saying Alec hasn't broken his oath yet?" Roko frowned.

 "Well the Oath of Apocalypse is an oath to protect the world in the face of apocalyptic events and none of that's been going on so I guess he's fine." Momo chuckled, "Though it's a little more complicated than that. There's no general apocalypse that they've promised to fight against but specific ones. Oath of Burning Armageddon is a technique that can only be obtained by swearing an oath to combat an apocalypse where the world is engulfed by flames and so on. So one can swear to fight one apocalyptic event but not another and still keep their power. It's fair to say that there is no actual Oath of Apocalypse swordstyle but rather multiple smaller, specific swordstyles that we bundle up under that name."

 "You sure know a lot." Kaguya blinked.

 "Oh, it's just stuff I picked up in Momokami library." Momo smiled, "The Oath of Apocalypse is one of those legendary ones that most people aren't sure exists. Finding someone to properly undertake the oaths is harder than actually learning the swordstyles."

 "Alec said he got them during a sort of bargaining phase in the order's recruitment process."

 "I mean…" Momo laughed, "Paladin orders have been dying out recently."

 "I'm not sure if I should be impressed by this Alec guy or not anymore." Helena sighed, "We haven't even met him so we don't even know what he looks like."

 "Oh, I've got pictures." Corissa spoke up, "Would you like to see?"

 "Wow Corissa, you've got photos of a guy?" Helena teased.

 "T-They're just friendly photos!" Corissa blushed lightly as she took out her phone, "We're not doing anything bad!"

 "I'm sure that how your fans will take it if they ever find out."

 "Uuu..."

 "I wouldn't worry about it." Kaguya chuckled, "Let's see this photo."

 Corissa navigated her phone for a bit before showing off a rather handsome, candid photo of Alec sitting on a fence.

 "Oh wow." Helena remarked, "He's pretty good looking. Definitely got some charisma to him."

 "He does have an untrustworthy air to him." Kaguya added, "Though I don't think normal people would be able to pick up on that immediately."

 "Thin build." Momo nodded, "He looks normal enough but he's undoubtedly got some muscles underneath his clothes. Normal people might not even notice how strong his body actually is but he's definitely stronger than he looks."

 "Freaking pretty boy." Roland scowled, "Looks like he wouldn't have trouble picking up a woman he just met."

 "Damn. Can't believe you're attracted to someone like him, Corissa." Helena smirked.

 "I-I'm not attracted to him!" Corissa yelped as she pulled her phone away, "At least not in that way!"

 "Yet."

 "Yet." Corissa nodded, "No, wait-"

 "At any rate." Roko sighed as Helena cackled loudly, "I'll be fine. I'm getting released tomorrow morning after some more tests."

 "Oh yeah, the dark elves said the area you were going into was poisonous." Kaguya said, "Are you sure you're feeling alright?"

 "Poisonous?" Roko frowned, "I feel perfectly fine. No hint that wherever I was was poisonous."

 "Strange." Momo mused, "The dark elves were insistent that we don't charge in there without a good way back. Not even the blink dogs were allowed to follow you guys."

 "I believe I can explain that."

 "Gareth!" Helena said, surprised to see the lich in his human form walking up to them, "Or should I call you Polaris?"

 "Either one's fine." Gareth smiled, "Polaris was the identity I used to better facilitate relations with the elves. If Rivera knew it was me, she wouldn't give me a ghost of a chance. Of course, that seems to be no longer a worry."

 "Congratulations by the way." Kaguya chuckled, "Are you feeling alright by the way?"

 "Oh, I'm fine. It's pretty hard to actually damage a lich though those monsters were surprisingly troublesome. Brook is resting right now. She never stopped fighting with me and to be honest, she got the worst of it so she deserves the break."

 "Even if your body isn't damaged, your mental state can still be fatigued." Roko said, "You need to give yourself a break as well."

 "Thanks." Gareth smiled, "I've got a lot on my plate since coming back but I'll take it one at a time. Starting with your concerns."

 "Yeah, you were going to explain what this 'poison' was about?" Helena nodded.

 "This 'poison' and Roko's ability to cast magic both stem from the same thing." Gareth replied, "The area you all charged into was highly dense with magical energy."

 "Dense with magical energy?" Momo frowned.

 "Yes. An area with so much magic in the area that we couldn't run the forest's spatial warping magic through it. Imagine firing an arrow into a windstorm. Its path would be thrown off by all the wind in the area. A magical construct, as invisible and unintrusive as it normally is still reacts to magical energy if it is dense enough, sort of overwriting it and returning it to pure energy. Likewise, immense stores of external magical energy is poisonous to magical creatures. That includes elves and dark elves and even orcs and yes, liches like myself. If an elf were to spend too much time where you went, their physical state would begin deteriorating, making them sick and weak until they eventually die."

 "So that's why Romer didn't want us charging in there." Helena nodded, "But then why's Roko fine?"

 "Remember, I said that excess magical energy is poisonous to magical creatures. Creatures with a high affinity to magic already contain an amount of magical energy in them, hitting what is known as the Quintessence Dissolution Limit much faster. Humans on the other hand are quite magically deficient so you all can survive in there much easier than any of us."

 "Really? Is it that bad?" Roland frowned.

 "Even I avoid that area." Gareth nodded, "I've known it exists for a while but it's always been dangerous for anyone to even go near it. Had I known someone might've been using it as a base, I would've checked it myself much sooner."

 "Wait, what about demons?" Roko asked, "Aren't they magical?"

 "Demons?" Gareth blinked, "Ah, you mean that contracted demon from the reports? Hmmm...tough to say, I'm not particularly well learned in this field. But theoretically, they could just hide somewhere safe and just appear when their contractor needs them. Demon contracts are very strange and powerful things. No one really knows how they work. It's possible being contracted to a human affords the demon some resistance but that's only a theory I've made up just now."

 "So...what about the spells?" Corissa asked, "Are you saying Roko had a much easier casting spells since there was so much magic around?"

 "Precisely." Gareth smiled, "Since Roko uses archeomancy more than traditional spell casting, he's using external magical forces to create spells and having a surplus of the base component undoubtedly makes it easier for anyone to cast spells. Normally it's rituals and enchantments though. Or at the very least the external magic is filtered into internal mana and then converted into a spell. Roko's method of spell casting seems a bit more unique."

 "Roko's certainly one of a kind." Kaguya smiled.

 "So I haven't actually gotten any better with magic." Roko sighed, "I knew it was too good to be true."

 "Maybe you can take a paladic oath instead." Helena smirked.

 "I'd rather take lessons from Roland."

 "Hey, I can teach you a lot."

 "But nothing worth remembering."

 "You'll remember this foot up your ass if you keep this up."

 "And you'll end up lonely your entire life if you keep your act up."

 "Oh like you're gonna end up with anyone! With how many times you end up here, the only thing you seem to love is a death wish!"

 "At least I can stick to one goal and accomplish it. How's your love life again?"

 "I'm working on it!"

 "Which one? I can name three girls you've shown interest in in this village alone and they're all out of your league. You're so self absorbed that you fail to form even the most basic of human connection with the opposite sex. You neither have the courage to take a definite first step nor the skill to attract others to yourself. You're forever stuck in a purgatory of pointless pride, assuming that next time you'll do better while doing nothing to actually develop as a person nor even your social abilities. You have no plan, just blind hope and assurance. You went from a sword and shield to two swords, your fighting style has changed more than your approach to women. How does someone want something so badly yet does nothing to actually achieve it?"

 "...Damn bro, you didn't have to be so mean."

 "I'm not apologizing."