A Change of Plans

Edited by: Black Jesus

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Delilah could be seen on her bed reading through the alchemical book. An occasional frown would pop up on her face. Delilah was experiencing something that she had never experienced before. That was a problem of comprehension. Throughout her short 'years', she had never experienced a problem with comprehending something. Whether it was the spirit formations she had started studying from youth or her comprehension of magic and physical empowerment, Delilah would always be able to pick up anything on the first time she did it quickly.

If anyone were to hear that an eight-year-old was complaining about not being able to comprehend an alchemy book the first time she read it, he or she would probably die of a heart attack. It had to be known that a genius alchemist would take at least a year to comprehend the book Delilah was reading. The book went over the central dogma of alchemy and consisted of its basics. It contained the most seen alchemy recipes using the most basic herbs. The problem Delilah was facing was the theories regarding the interaction that certain herbs had with each other. Delilah continued reading she felt a new headache progressively get worse. She put the book down.

Because Delilah was not allowed to train, she felt bored. She would usually train throughout the day, leaving no spare time to laze around. Delilah did not know what to do so she just laid there on her bed. Unconsciously, she entered a peculiar state of suspended animation. Unknowingly to her, a day had passed by.

Queen Lily thought it was due to Delilah studying the book she had just given her, but after another day passed by, Queen Lily began to worry and rushed to Delilah's room. When she got there, she noticed the Delilah was laying on the bed unconscious. Delilah looked tranquil. After scanning her with her mana and spirit power and making sure that Delilah was okay, Queen Lily calmed down a little. She sat at the edge of the bed, watching Delilah intently as to be ready to take action if anything went wrong.

Like this, a week passed by. During this time, Queen Lilly has never left Delilah's side. She made sure that no one knew that her granddaughter was unconscious as rumors would start and panic would ensue due to there being something wrong with the crown princess. It was not until another two days that the Delilah woke up from what seemed to be a period of hibernation. She looked the same but, there was something different about her aura.

"Are you okay, Lilah?" asked Queen Lily worriedly.

"Yea, I'm fine," replied Delilah. She was somewhat surprised to see her grandmother here. Did something happen? She thought that she had only been sleeping for just a short while.

"Did something happen while I was napping Grandmama?" asked Delilah.

A nap? Her granddaughter called sleeping for 10 whole days a nap? Queen Lily put up a sound barrier and quickly explained the situation to Delilah.

"What!? 10 whole days? I was sleeping for 10 whole days?" Delilah could not help but shout out in surprise.

"Yes Lilah, but somehow your body seems to be normal even after not eating. Your aura also feels stronger. I can feel the spirit fluctuations from you. Lilah, check the level of your spirit flame."

Delilah quickly checked her spirit flame. When her consciousness entered the area around her abdomen, she gaped at what she saw. What lay there was an orange spirit flame. Delilah's spirit flame had evolved from red to orange while she was in the strange state. Delilah was happy and excited, her stagnant advance in spirit power was something that had bothered her.

"Delilah it seems like this has something to do with your silver spirit flame potential and that silver book. I have never heard of something like this where you enter hibernation for 10 days before your spirit flame evolves from red to orange," said Queen Lily with mixed emotions. She did not know if this was a good thing or a bad thing. Queen Lily guessed that it was the former and had something to do with Delilah's origin, it was also her wishful thinking as well. Delilah had the same thoughts but did not voice them.

"Delilah, the day you left, I had spoken to your teachers. We had come to make a change of plans. I have decided that you would immediately head to the Western State before you reach the Apprentice level. It was scheduled that you leave tomorrow. Due to multiple reasons, I did not inform anyone of you entering a deep slumber. Thankfully you got up just in time," said Queen Lily.

Her face took on somewhat of a sad look as she continued. "We were supposed to spend these last few days together before you left, but it's okay. Grandmama is not sad but instead delighted that your spirit flame increased in power color." Delilah's eyes watered. She did not say anything and just hugged her grandmother. She felt that the timing of this surprise was quite unfortunate.

The two continued to talk for the whole night.

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The next day.

Delilah got up from the bed. She was packed and ready. Her grandmother had informed her that she would be leaving with just Rayna, Roy, and Marvin as escorts. Roy and Marvin were a must as they were her teachers, and Rayna was like Delilah's older sister. If someone named Rayna the 3rd most person who cared for Delilah, no one would dare call themselves second. Delilah was delighted when she learned that Rayna would be joining them.

Queen Lily avoided sending out too big of a group and thought the group of three elites protecting Delilah would be the safest option. The group could be low key and not attract too much attention.

According to what Delilah knew, the Ancient Flower Kingdom could be considered the easternmost of the 10 kingdoms in the Western Territory. Separating the Western State and Western Territory was the Western Wilderness. The Ancient Flower Kingdom lay at just at the border of it.

Delilah soon arrived at her grandmother's royal study. Instead of having just her grandmother there, there was also Rayna, Roy, and Marvin. Delilah first bowed and greeted her grandmother than nodded and greeted the group. This was to show the distinction of respect received by the queen. Delilah only did this when she and her grandmother were around other people.

"Delilah, everything was finished being prepared for last night. You should be ready. I won't be seeing you off this time. Go ahead with Rayna, Roy, and Marvin," said Queen Lily bluntly as soon as Delilah came in.

Not only was Delilah shocked, but the group of people was as well. Delilah knew the intentions of her grandmother. Queen Lily did not want to get emotional and show weakness in front of her subjects. They had also finished saying their goodbyes last night. Delilah then nodded after her short moment of surprise and her and the group of 3 left the royal study.

After leaving, Delilah went towards the back of the group and followed along beside Rayna. She had assumed the role of a little sister and chatted with Rayna. The group headed towards the tunnel leading to the training facility. When they arrived, Delilah was at first surprised then remembered something. The training facility lay at the edge of the martial campgrounds, and that led straight into the Western Wilderness. When they got into the tunnel, Marvin gestured for them to stop. He then stuck out his arm and the turquoise power coursing through his body flowed into his hands, and a black magic circle appeared in front of him.

"A Void Summoner! Marvin is actually a Void Summoner!" exclaimed Rayna.

"Void Summoner?" asked Delilah. Although she had spent the past couple of months training with Marvin, she had never learned any spells, let alone about summoning magic as she was still in the pre sorcerer foundational stages. Roy was also confused as to what being a Void Summoner meant.

"This means that he has contracted with a spirit that has an affinity to the void. Although void magic is at the same level of spatial magic, it is much rarer and has certain unique qualities," replied Rayna. As a Mage, she was very interested in other Sorcerer classes, especially the most unique Summoner class.

"Miss Rayna is very well informed. Yes, I have made a contract with a Void Hound. After saying that, a small black pug appeared where the middle of the black magic circle was.

"That's… A Void Hound?" asked Rayna. They thought it would be a vicious looking dark creature, not a cute puppy dog.

"Bahahahaha!" laughed Roy. The two had had many disputes while being the teachers for Delilah but it had never escalated to the point where Marvin summoned his contractual spirit. "Your contractual spirit is a…. Is a…. A puppy dog! Ahahahaha!"

'Bark bark'

The little pug snarled as if it understood it was being insulted. It jumped up and bit towards Roy's 'nether' region. It was too fast and seemingly teleported through space. Before anyone could react, a high pitched scream sounded out.

"AHHHHHH!!! mY BaLLss!!! It's BitINg mY BALLS!! AHHHH!" Marvin sounded like a female in distress as he screamed. No one knew that the masculine middle-aged man could make such high pitch noises. Everyone held themselves back from laughing.

"Okay, that's enough Pooky." As soon as Marvin said that, the pug let go of its bite.

Roy pointed at the puppy dog, "I'll kill you!!!" He drew his bow and an arrow appeared in his hand. A green ring appeared behind him. But before he could knock his bow, a chilly gust of wind permeated in the air that nearly froze both Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. A purple ring could be seen taking form from behind Rayna.

Roy came back to his senses and hurriedly put away his bow and arrow. Marvin also backed away. Rayna was after all the direct disciple of the Queen, who was the most powerful person in the kingdom. Rayna could be said to be ranked within the top 5 in terms of power in the whole Ancient Flower Kingdom, despite her young age. After she saw Roy back down, she withdrew her magic. An awkward silence permeated throughout the air. '

'Cough cough'

"Pooky, open the void gate. I'll link the coordinates to you," Marvin said before closing his eyes. The black pug did as well and after a moment a black portal opened up.

"This will lead us to the end of the tunnel. Pooky can only manipulate the void to a certain range," Marvin's tone was somewhat self-deprecating, but his expression gave away how proud he was of his contractual spirit's power.

The group stepped through the portal which led straight to the end of the tunnel. They thought that Marvin was overestimating his abilities, but surprisingly, he was not at all. One had to know that the length of the tunnel ran for a couple of miles. Delilah and the group then headed to the gate leading out of the military encampment. When they reached the gate they were stopped my Roy. Roy was the most familiar with the Western Wilderness, so he took the role of informing them of things that they needed to look out for.

"The Western Wilderness will possess more dangerous animals the further we head inside. The outer region should be somewhat safe with our manpower unless we are extraordinarily unlucky. Marvin, Miss Rayna, like her Majesty said, this is the perfect trial by fire for Princess Delilah," Roy then turned towards Delilah. "You're almost at the 3rd stage of both the pre sorcerer and pre combatant class. The next step will require a sudden flash of insight for you and actual combat happens to be the fastest and most effective way to do so. Hence when we encounter monsters, unless absolutely necessary, we won't step in. With your current battle prowess and even if we end up being somewhat unlucky, you should not need our help as we go further into the wilderness."

After Roy finished, Delilah felt her blood pumping. She had never experienced actual combat so far, and this would be the perfect opportunity to unleash her power. Delilah was so excited that she went ahead of them and ran into the forest herself. The group was already aware of the little princess's personality, so they had expected this. Delilah and the group continued for a couple of minutes before they ran into their first beast.

"A grey bear!" In front of Delilah stood a regular sized greyish bear. Grey Bears were common beasts and were equivalent to a normal stage 2 foundational stage person in terms of combat prowess. The group behind Delilah let out a breath of relief as they were not unlucky enough to encounter a random wandering advanced beast. This was until Roy noticed something about the 'Grey Bear's' eyes. They were not the usual black but the same color as it's fur.

"Delilah that is no…" before he could finish Delilah had already finished chanting a spell. Although she was only able to use attributeless magic at the moment, she only knew the advanced magic from the [Flower Compendium]. A green magic circle appeared in front of her outstretched hands and red rose petals that gave off a sharp feeling flooded out and rushed towards the bear.

"Roarrrr!" Noticing Delilah, the bear started its own attack and lunged itself towards the storm of blade petals. The blade petals and the bear collided and it resulted in a gruesome scene for the bear. Delilah was not happy however because the spell should have been enough to turn the 'Grey Bear' into mincemeat. She took the opportunity after the spell died down to lunge her body towards it. Delilah was quick and agile, as she quickly arrived before the bear. She leaped off the floor and sent a kick towards the bear's head.

"ROAR!!!" the bear felt insulted that a puny human wanted to fight in terms of bodily strength with it, but before it could react, it had already died. It's head splattered to pieces, falling on the floor. When Delilah landed, she felt something was off. She then noticed the color of the 'Grey Bear's' blood. It was orange, not red. Delilah did not remember Grey Bear's having orange blood. The more experienced Roy cursed inwardly and thought how bad their luck was. Rayna and Marvin soon realized what was happening.

"A… a Silver bear cub, that means…"

"ROARRRRRR!!!!!"

Their faces instantly turned pale. Silver Bear's were an advanced level beast that would usually show up only within the depths of the Western Wilderness. Silver Bear cubs looked a lot like Grey Bears, and the only difference was their eyes and blood color. Adult Silver Bears possessed strength equal to a late-stage Advanced Classman. That was just in raw power, however, as once they grew up their innate abilities would wake up and no regular late stage advanced classman could match them. Their combat prowess infinitely neared the peak of the Advanced stage. They were roughly just as strong as the strongest person in their group, Rayna, however, the thing about Silver Bears was that they were a pack family beast. That meant they would usually travel in couples of two adults with the occasional pair having 3-4 cubs follow them. Rayna herself was no confident in dealing with one, let alone if Marvin and Roy could deal with the other. This did not include the other Silver Bear cubs who were more or less as powerful as the one Delilah had just killed.

Roars could be heard progressively getting closer to the group and the ground was shaking. The smell of the unique Silver Bear's blood must have alerted the family. This was really the worst situation that they could encounter after just entering the Western Wilderness. Things were looking grim from Delilah's group of four.