[6]

Maria was once again in the midst of the castle garden. She felt calm in this quite and serene area. And as the small and blissful spring breeze blew the emerald grass around her, she prepared to finally figure out this <Light Barrier> of her's.

After a month of constant trials and error, she had to admit, she wasn't a genius in magic arts. It was a fact. Something that she was sure her brother would have definitely taken less than a day or two-maybe three-to figure out, has taken her a bit over thirty days now.

Half of that time was actually spent trying to understand the words of the magic book, without a mentor, she could only use her own knowledge. Maria fully realized why intellect was also a part of being a mage. Any normal person who saw the diagrams, notes, and descriptions within the book would have already had their mind overfilled and given up right there and then. Not only did it hold detailed diagrams and notes of just how to control your mana to activate the magic, it also told of the exact way to pronounce each word of the scripture in order to form the spell. One small deviation could cause the magic to fail to activate; she now understood why mages where depicted as calm, they had to be to truly fight.

She sighed to herself as her lips began to move and an aura of golden light began to spew out of her sitting figure "Oh goddess of light, protect me in your embrace."

The golden light began to condense into shape, and soon, a clear and spherical energy of light enveloped Maria in its center. Since she hadn't poured much mana into the spell, the outward total length of protection was nothing more than a few feet from herself.

'Finally.' She thought as she looked at this barrier of light that matched its name perfectly.

After a month of constant practice, she was finally able to correctly control the mana as stated in the diagram. Why would this take this long? It was because, if not correctly controlled, the light barrier would crumble upon itself, crack, then shatter.

Countless times she had saw it shatter, and countless times she had persisted.

Overall, she was glad her work and patience had paid off. And although she didn't know how strong the barrier was, but it was said its defensive capabilities was dependant on the mana stat of the person. She wasn't sure if it was a one to one basis, as in an A rank mana stat would protect against an A rank strength stat, but that was what testing it was for.

Dusting herself off slightly, she calmly walked towards the edge of the spherical dome that enveloped her.

Standing not more than a foot from it, she took a stance; her left leg slightly behind, her right leg placed in front, and her fists held up in front of her figure.

She took a deep breath.

Then...

Her right fist shot forwards.

The wind moved in tandem with her motion and her peach-colored hair fluttered under the glittering sun.

A loud and echoing rhythm echoed amidst the day as her fist found contact with the light barrier.

The wall of light embraced her attack as her fist stopped in motion and she felt as if she had came into contact with a magnificent wall of metal.

However, the ripples that spread across the barrier immediately diluted her thoughts.

Like a sea, small waves spread across the barrier as it shielded her impact.

Finally, after the ripples had spread across the full dome, they disappeared as it regained its calm and serene surface.

Looking over all this, Maria calmly withheld her fist as she stood stationary in pondering.

'It's at least a one to one ratio for now, however, how much of that amount of force can it withstand?'

'Not only that, it seems the barrier works by directing the attack throughout it's shelled dome in an effort to negate the force behind the attack.'

'However, that's only in the case of the strength behind the attack, it doesn't seem to account for the piercing power the attack may have. Say an arrow or a sword, one of which may be able to pierce through and continue to reach within.'

'Furthur study is required.' She took a mental note.

Anyway, nodding calmly, she was glad to have a new spell in her arsenal. Making a total of two; <Heal> and <Light Barrier>. However, at this rate she was going, wouldn't she only be able to study one new spell a month? She wasn't sure, but her brother Arthur had to have at least more than ten or fifteen in his arsenal. Having studied since he started playing with fire when he was but ten or so, literally, he had to have made a lot of progress by now.

"Milady, it's time to venture out." Just then, a voice brought her back

Looking back, she could see the expressionless face of Ais, her guard, standing just in front of her.

The light barrier had already disappeared into fragments of light, with the amount of mana she had put into the spell, it wasn't slated to last.

"Alright, let's head out." Maria nodded as she begun to walk towards the garden exit.

The two walked in silence and soon reached the door.

Finally, after a lot of walking on their part, they reached the frontal centric area of the castle. The outside being a paved road with gently carved trees on both sides that finally led to the castle doors. And, right now, there was a lone carriage of fine decorations and five guards on horseback surrounding it in a circular pattern.

Walking towards the carriage, the guards immediately greeted her as she nodded.

This would be her first real outing as a princess, being personally invited by the Duke of Kent-a city not too far from here and within her father's sphere of influence-for his son's thirteenth birthday.

He had spoken about how his son wanted to meet the princess and how his son had asked him to invite her down the next time he was to get a meeting with the king. Which, thank's to the situation of the red star that Maria was not fully aware of, the Duke had the chance to inquire.

Maria's father, the king, was unable to reject the offer without a good reason. The city of Kent was, after all, the closest city to the capital city of the kingdom of Albion, Alcoa, and one run by a duke of a high rank. Not only did it serve as a strategic defensive location in the case of an invasion or war, it had also helped the kingdom throughout countless generations. For those reasons alone, it would not only be unwise but also unbefitting to refuse the invitation without reason or rhyme.

'Nobles sure do have a lot of customs and rules to follow.' That was the only thing Maria had thought when she had heard of this. Anyway, to herself, it was a chance to see the outside world for a bit.

However, she didn't like the attire she had been given. Not only was it a dress of overly elegant designs, it was also to the point where-if not careful-she might simply trip and fall face first.

However, she could only bear with it, and although she didn't remember her past life fully, it seemed at least a trace of her personality and thinking carried over.

Anyway, this was a solo journey, if her personal guard and escorts where to be not included in the counting.

Her brother couldn't attend because he had started to train in the workings of an heir to the throne, being fifteen this year, he was now considered in the range of adulthood within this world-although still short. Maria could sometimes hear his screams of agony just beyond the library in which he was being taught.

Her father couldn't attend as he was much too busy reorganizing the army and various governmental organizations in preparation for what's to come in the near future.

Finally, her mother couldn't attend as she juggled training Arthur to become a suitable king-through both love and force-and helping Abraham with his busy work when needed. Did you really think a queen was just there as a decoration?

Everyone was busy, and if it had been any other day, even Maria would be busy practicing her magic. Because, inherently, she feared the red star that was to loom over the world.

Now today, they had bid farewell as her father had triple checked her condition to make sure she was one hundred percent alright.

Maria entered into the two horse-drawn carriage with Ais following along as they both sat face to face.

Hearing the sound of a lash of a whip cutting through the air, the nay of horses, and feeling the carriage beginning its short journey; Maria's eyes shone in a faintly discernable golden light amidst her pinkish red hued gem-like eyes.

[Name: Ais William

Strength: B

Speed: A

Mana: B

Skills: Swordsmanship (B), Circular View (U), Broken Will (A)

Overall: A]

Long ago she had already figured out the cause of her personal guard's lack of expression, no, limited expression.

It was one of the applied skills <Broken Will>.

[Broken Will: Your will had already been broken once before, your mind has grown and evolved to save you from yourself. Causes a lack of expression but, in return, increases mental fortitude.]

A skill which benefits were clearly written, as well as the negatives. Maria didn't know if the loss outweighed the gain, but, if it was caused by a tragedy, it would seem so.

She had learned that skills developed either through birth, lucky chances, or certain significant events. So she had figured, Ais must have held a somewhat traumatic past for such a skill has this to awaken within her.

In the end, she decided to uncloud her mind and enjoy the short journey she was currently in.

The city of Kent wasn't too far apart from the capital Alcoa. Going by the speed of a carriage pulled by two horses, it shouldn't take any more than three or so hours to traverse the forestry that linked the two.

All in all, this was a new experience for Maria. And although she couldn't remember, she could feel that she had never ridden a carriage weather in this life or the past.

The current carriage was very comfortable, and although she heard that regular carriages would shake about and rumble, her father had told her this carriage was a magical artifact. Somewhere within its construction, it was inlaid with a magical circle to dismiss the unfavorable motion; specifically built for the royalty, the nobles, and the wealthy.

Abruptly, however, the carriage came to a stop as she heard the fearful sound of the horses that drew it.

"What's going on? Are we already there?" Maria asked her knight doubtfully.

"No," Ais shook her head as her monotonous voice drifted about "it shouldn't be so fast, we should only have crossed the bordering area of Alcoa."

Just as she spoke, a banging resounded through the carriage as someone pounded at the door.

"Miss Ais, we have a demonic beast blocking the road and the other four knights are struggling to keep it at bay!" The hurried voice of a man shouted.

Ais's eyes immediately turned frosty, and even as her expression remained stoic, one could feel her aura beginning to change. She turned and opened the carriage's door as her eyes stared at the knight.

"Demonic beast?" Her monotonous voice oozed with a bit of power.

"Ye...Yeas!" The knight stuttered briefly to answer.

Air turned towards the princess, and Maria could feel killing intent even as her voice remained the same "Milady, I'm sorry for the inconvenience, I will go deal with this beast at once."

And with that, the guard directly lept out of the carriage as her golden hair fluttered along with her.

Demonic beast? Maria thought as she followed along.

When she reached within viewing distance, she saw the chaotic scene.

A towering mass of blackish fur stood on its two legs as it swatted the kights trying to keep it at bay with its long and muscular arms covered in as much fur as the rest of its body.

The leading knight was directly blown away and sent flying into the air. His armored body rolled amidst the sandy ground of the forest and landed a good distance aways as he brought along dust into the air.

The other knights immediately held a panicked expression as they struggled to fight this beast that looked much like an ape.

Maria laid her eyes on the ape as she wondered just how powerful it could be to beat down a group of armored knights of at least C rank. Her eyes turned to its golden overlay.

However, what happened next shocked her.

She couldn't see anything, no, more specifically, she couldn't see its Sacred Text.

This was the first time she had ever encountered this situation. Where demonic beasts immune to her observations? Or did they not have a Sacred Text to begin with?

Just as she found herself amidst her own thought, a monotonous voice drifted with the wind as it beat through the forest.

"Prepare to leave your lifeless body behind, you waste of existence."

Ais brought out her blade as she took simple steps towards the beast. There was only one thought within her mind-kill.

Her silver blade glimmered under the shining sun as she grasped its blue hilt. Her golding pupils stared at the demonic beast as she saw nothing more than a corpse.

The beast roared when it heard her voice, its leg raised within the air and pounded against the ground as it sent away the knights that surrounded it.

Then it brought forwards its furious momentum and charged towards the knight that emitted a strong thirst for its blood.

Reaching striking distance, it brought down its towering fist towards her head.

Ais looked on as the fist approached, unchanged, she raised her sword and slashed horizontally.

A light streak followed her seamless silver blade as it traced the body of the beast.

Following, a loud shriek emitted through the forest as the fist of the beast stopped before it made contact with her face.

Its facial expression seemed to twist.

Tumbling backwards in pain, it held it's right hand and produced a shriek.

A line of red traced along its shoulder.

Then, blood flowed.

Its right shoulder began to slid off its body as it's arm detached from its contact. Finally, it fell within its own pool of crimson blood.

'It's arm...directly severed...' Maria's eyes, unbeknownst to her, gleamed as she watched on.

Looking at the arm that had fallen, the beast's frenzied blood red eyes were now glazed over in rage as it brought its foot up and stomped down, in an effort to crush its opponent.

However, Ais lightly shifted her feet and dodged. Appearing at it's back, she twisted her body and slashed out once more like a grim reaper.

A line of red traced across the neck of the beast.

Th beast couldn't roar any longer, it's body tumbled down with its knees coming into contact with the floor first. Then it's full mass crashed down and shook the land.

Then... its head rolled as the blood spilled.

Seeing this Maria recalled what her father had once said to her.

"Although she's a bit expressionless, if you ever want protection, she's the right one for the job."

Now that she saw how she had dealt with the demonic beast in such an effortless manner, she couldn't help but agree.

As her personal knight walked over, she noticed there was not a single trace of blood on her figure.

Sheathing her sword, her guard affirmed: "I've removed the small hindrance."

"Mmhn." Maria nodded as she turned to enter the carriage.

After the knight's cleared the beast's body away, the carriage proceeded back on course without any more hindrances.