Chapter 69 Hope?

It was early morning and it wouldn't take long before the princess woke up.

'Even after all this time, we don't even know her name yet.', he couldn't help but smile at that realization. As he was hiding under a pseudonym, his companion simply never gave him anything.

He was meditating since his body needed the rest from all the training, so he was playing around with his willpower. Focusing his senses on the girl he tried to look for her core, normally the core would've already fused with her flesh making it useless. bringing his willpower to her sleeping place, he could see the outline of her body with a bright light in her center.

'Wait what? Is that her core? Shouldn't that have disappeared already?'

'Is she younger than ten years old? No, that would be ridiculous.'

Opening his eyes and retracting the willpower he looked at her, she was still asleep, but on the verge of waking up. She was moving her body a bit, trying to get into a more comfortable position, but Lucas' movements woke her up. Her eyes opened slowly and she was clearly half-asleep.

"Good..morning", with a yawn she signified her awakening, she got up and went to the nearby river to wash up.

'That glowing ball of light in her stomach, is that her core or something else?'

'She said that she was born with a gift to scout out people's strength, perhaps this has something to do with that.'

'No, if that was the case, wouldn't every mage around her notice that her gift is a physical thing and take it from her?'

'She said that she took a lot of different things in order to awaken right? Could that be the energy she was fed in her younger days?'

Lucas didn't bother washing too often, he used magic when he felt that he was too dirty. Keeping it simple, he had traveled through the forest for weeks in total, so having such a natural smell actually helped him blend in.

On the other hand, the perfume that the princess used could be sensed by animals from afar. For the princess, however, that was an important step in waking up, so he didn't bother correcting her. In the beginning, he suspected that he would have to command her to do a lot of things, looking back he hadn't asked her to do anything yet.

He couldn't tell if it came from his sympathy for her or because the situation hadn't asked for any severe actions. Either way, she came back combing her hair into a beautiful waterfall-like pattern. Her light blue hair was shining brightly after being washed. He didn't know what kind of tools she had to use to make her hair in such a way, but Lucas never knew much about make-up, clothing, or anything mattering appearance, as long as it wasn't in his way, he didn't care much.

"Hello there, anyone home?", she waved her hand in front of Lucas' face, he had been standing still pondering about a few situations only to be pulled back into reality. "Princess, I-"

"Call me Freya, there's no need for the title.", she had her weak smile back on, showing Lucas she had recovered but was still hurting. Swallowing the spit that accumulated in his mouth he carefully touched on the topic.

"Freya, can I take a look at your core for a moment? I want to have a closer inspection."

She didn't really know what to say, "A closer inspection? When did you look at my core?"

"I used my willpower to scan my surroundings and for a moment I looked at you and felt something strange."

"You can use willpower? Do you have a mental sphere already? Wha-How?"

"Is it really that strange for me to have a mental sphere?"

"Yes, of course, for any mage that's the hardest part to form, most do it right at the cusp of Rank 1."

"About that, is there any gateway to reaching Rank 1? Like a special kind of circulation or potion?", she shook her head, "Only a large amount of energy is necessary to reach the second rank, the amount obviously can't be too much."

'I see, that makes this a lot easier.', he trusted her, her instructions when it came to magic were always correct. So he had no reason to suspect her of lying. With no more surprises waiting for him, he could rush it.

"But yes, I formed my sphere when I met an Aruna Bat that forced me to grow a sphere prematurely."

"Aren't those almost extinct? How lucky did you get?", she was genuinely flabbergasted, some magical beasts did have runic patterns on their back that could force the mind to grow, but even forcing a mental sphere was deadly for most mages. They would require a few weeks of glimpses to reach it, but Lucas had help from the unknown to literally force it into existence.

"Either way, can I take a look at your core? If I'm correct, I could perhaps make you into a mage."

With that sentence he received a look of complete surprise, she was between hopelessness because she knew what her doctors had said and complete bliss knowing that this strange boy could help her out. Logic would dictate that he wouldn't be capable of helping her, yet a sense of reliability had been formed throughout their journey, so she didn't mind giving him a chance.

"Yes, yes, of course, please...go ahead.", she enthusiastically said before laying down on the grass, showing her belly to him. This would've been quite a strange sight for anyone, especially with the context that she was a princess, though a weak and useless one, a princess was a princess. Her political power and heir to the throne remained as long as she lived.

"Okay, close your eyes and focus on slowing down your breathing."

Lucas got on his knees before letting his willpower focus on her core. Closer inspection revealed the bright light wasn't just a lucent ball, but a blueish core surrounded by layers of glowing energy. The layers seemed to have a certain form or a pattern, but he couldn't make anything out of it.

"You were provided with magical energy to awaken correct?"

"Yes, my loyal guard, Roderick, gave me a few things to eat and interact with that should normally awaken someone."

"Yet you didn't. The amount of energy is a lot though, wasn't he going overboard?"

"No, the amount would've been enough to form the first circle, getting me a step closer to the next rank. We didn't have the time to work on the mental sphere."

'Immediately reach Rank 1??? Are you kidding me with this shit?'

'I wonder why.'