Magic is Wonderful.

[Selenia, Capital of the Aureum Theocratic Diarchy, Southern Outer Forest]

In a grand castle located in the middle of a city, once known to be the Rabbitkin City-Stats, sat six men around a golden table with a tree engraved on it.

Half of the men were rabbitkin and the other half were dragonnewts. On the rabbitkin side of the table sat a man with a simple golden crown and on the dragonnewt side of the table a different man had the same crown.

"May the meeting commence." Balthial said. One of the dragonnewts stood up and began to speak, "As we all know, the name and word of our Goddess has spread across the forest and we have garnered human followers, most of which are slaves. Our scouts have discovered the location of every human settlement that harbors slaves and are currently awaiting the order to strike." He then sat down.

"As much as I want them free, in such numbers, it will cause problems with the humans from across the sea. Although we have the power to take them on, we must put the peace of the forest first. Not to mention we have no idea the numbers they have and if they have stronger members of their race." Veldama said with a sigh.

"I understand that we must keep the peace of the forest, but even the Goddess herself wouldn't state for such blatant injustice!" The dragonnewt from before, Makaron, yelled.

Balthial could tell the tensions were rising quickly and eased their nerves, "Everyone calm down. How about instead of arguing amongst ourselves, we simply ask the Goddess for help? I believe this matter is serious enough right?"

They all agreed and began making their way to the church. The civilians who saw Veldama or Balthial praised them. Once inside the church, they all began to pray to a statue of Selene right in front of the altar she created a year ago.

"Goddess, if you can hear us, please we ask of your help." Balthial prayed and the tree on the altar began to glow. It zapped and a piece of paper with writing was on it.

[Bake me three cakes from your greatest baker and I'll come to help.]

Balthial read the note out loud forming a smile on everyone's face. Soon He and Veldama made the announcement to the people. What they didn't expect was instead of 3 cakes they got 300.

"It seems every baker believes they are the best…" Veldama rubbed his head awkwardly.

"What should we do? She asked for three of the best, but we have 10 times that amount. Do we beseech her anyway?" Makaron asked stupefied.

"I doubt the Goddess would reject 300 cakes…right?" Balthial nervously laughed and they just decided to bring all 300 in front of the altar. They didn't even have to pray because Selene was already sitting on top of it once the last cake was placed down.

"Wow! I didn't expect so many cakes!" Selene exclaimed with glee. Her white dress fluttered as she jumped off the altar and stood in front of six bowing men.

"So what do you need help with?"

"Goddess, we have run into a problem. We have located the settlements where humans are being enslaved yet half of us believe we should strike and the other half believe we shouldn't. We also don't want the humans from the land they hail from to retaliate and we want to keep the forest free from war, so what should we do?" Veldama asked while still bowing.

Selene frowned, "Did you call me here for such a stupid question? Of course, you free those slaves you dummies! Keeping the forest peaceful is in regards to yourselves and not going to war for stupid reasons. I believe the freedom of enslaved people is a very justifiable cause for war. If the humans retaliate to such a degree that you cannot handle it, then I will step in."

Selene waved her hand and levitated all the cakes into the altar, "With that, I will take my leave. Please don't call me for such a dumb reason next time. If it feels morally correct and it helps other people, then do it without question." Selene said as she vanished.

Now that they had the approval of their Goddess, they gave the order to strike.

————-

[Roseris Manor]

"Mommy, why don't you just take power? They…revere? They revere you!" Seriene asked as she read a spell book on Force Magic. Selene sighed, "Two main reasons. I like the freedom I have now. I can do what I want, when I want, how I want without people breathing down my neck all of the time. Secondly, as you said, they revere me as some Goddess, so I'm basically already in power just without all the downsides." Selene said as she realized 300 cakes really was excessive.

"Ohhh I see. Anyways, Mommy look at what I can do! But I need to go outside and far away from here." Selene raised her eyebrow but obliged and followed Seriene. They flew all the way to the western side of the outer forest and Seriene began to cast a spell.

A black miasma formed an outline around her body and she used two hands to charge a black orb, "[Black Art: Existence Denial!]

Selene's eyes widened in shock, "Seriene fire that into the sky!" Seriene couldn't hold it anymore but fired it into the sky at the last second. Selene then grabbed her and created a barrier around the entire section of the forest they were at. A white light replaced the sun for a brief moment and the aftermath ensued. Thousands of birds began to fall out of the sky and splat against the barrier.

"Seriene! What did I tell you about touching my black book?! If you would have fired that at the ground, the entire western half of the forest wouldn't exist and I would be able to bring it back no matter how much mana I pour into [Sprout]!" Selene yelled to a tearing Seriene.

"I-I didn't touch it, Mommy! I saw you practicing it on a small scale, so I used the subskill [Spell Copying] from my ultimate skill [Hecate]! I-I didn't know it was this powerful…" Seriene cried hysterically and Selene sighed heavily.

"I'm sorry for yelling sweetheart, it's just that every single spell in my black book is not to be played with even on a small scale. You can copy any other spell I've used but promise me not to copy any spells from my black book please?" Seriene nodded in her arms and Selene slowly rubbed her head.

"When we get home, I want you to explain your skill to me as well okay? Casting that spell on that level should have you exhausted but I can tell you have much more mana in the tank."

'I'm speaking from experience! When I tested that specific spell at full power over the Arctic Circle, my mana was completely dried out! For a kid her age to have such mana reserves, it makes me wonder how high it's going to be when she becomes an adult.' Selene felt an odd sense of pride fill her heart. She knew if she could get Seriene to recognize her potential and harness it, she would be a serious threat.

Selene undid her barrier and flew home with Seriene in her arms. When they arrived, Seriene gave her a rundown on her ultimate skill.

"Um, so it's called [Hecate, Goddess of Magic]. The little menu in my head tells me I have ultimate control over mana and makes learning magic 100 times easier and it also says my mana reserves are 10x the average amount for our race." Seriene explained and Selene nodded slowly.

"10x the average amount for our race? Considering we are the only two Ascendant Elves alive, let's assume you have 10x my reserves. I've quantified my mana reserves to 10,000,000 which would mean you have 100,000,000…" Selene laughed with mixed emotions. Pride, awe, and competitiveness.

Seriene felt a chill down her spine from her mother's laugh but decided to ignore it for her own sanity, "Anyways, the subskills are [Chant Annulment], [Perfect Memory], [Thought Acceleration], [Universal Perception], [Spell Copying], [Spell Inscription], and [Analytical Appraisal]."

"Hmm, describe what [Spell Copying] and [Spell Inscription] do exactly. I have an idea but I want to be sure." Selene asked and Seriene nodded.

"So, [Spell Copying] lets me copy any spell that I see. The criteria…I think that's the word, are I have to watch the user of the spell cast it first and I have to keep my eyes on the caster the entire time. If I lose sight of them, I can't copy them. For instance, if I wanted to copy a fireball from you, I would need to watch you cast it and not break eye contact the entire time you are casting it. Once casted, I can copy the spell."

"Let's see this in real-time," Selene casted [Burst] on a random tree. The tree swelled and exploded. Seriene's eyes were glowing and she didn't take them off of Selene. She then pointed at a tree, "[Burst]!"

The tree exploded much like the previous victim, "That's a broken skill. We may have to spend a day of just filling you up with spells! Now explain the other skill."

Seriene groaned at future training, "[Spell Inscription] isn't as self-explanatory. It's very similar to engraving magic but the major difference is what I use this skill on comes to life. If I used it on a rock with the spell [Bolt], the rock would come to life and be able to use the spell I inscribed into it. The sucky part is they are only alive for 24 hours. RIP Mr. Fluffington…" Seriene got a little sad but bounced back just as fast. Knowing her mother would want a real example, she grabbed a rock and inscribed the spell [Wash] into it.

Mana began to surround the rock and with a blue flash of light, a little rock man with a broom was born.

"Wash, Wash!" The little rock man exclaimed as he began to clean the area around him.

"That is so cute! It is also incredibly practical, maybe I can learn that skill and create some helpers around my library." Selene said as she picked the rock man up. He titled his rock head before trying to clean Selene's hands.

"Wash, Wash!"