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Chapter 7 - Ch 7 Little Witch pt2.

The people of the Sword Empire might be more of brawlers than thinkers, but in the world of nobility, being strong wasn't the only advantage one needed.

Intelligence, cunningness, and the ability to grasp any opportunity that came their way.

Kain Bladeheart was molded by this mindset.

From a very young age, Kain had always envied his brother — the Blade of the Empire, Klaus Bladeheart.

This envy was born from how much inferior he was to that monster.

His brother was a genius among geniuses and took everything that was supposed to be his.

Fame, inheritance, and so much more.

He was the older brother; hence the title of Duke should have belonged to him, and yet, his brother stole the one thing he had earned — all because he was stronger.

If he could amount the level of hatred he felt for Klaus, he couldn't describe it.

So when the death of his brother was announced, he wasn't overjoyed but rather relieved that such an impressive obstacle had finally left his path.

But his damned brother left even more troublesome children.

They sought to claim what their father had left — as if such a claim wasn't stolen from him.

"Orchid!"

In an office furnished with dark oak wood, a handsome middle-aged man with neatly trimmed hair faced the window, his dark blue eyes watching the reflection of the cloaked woman behind him.

"Yes, my lord."

The cloaked woman responded.

"How are the arrangements proceeding?"

"The younger sibling along with the younger boy has left the mansion."

"Is Rita with them?"

"No."

"Then deploy your men once the siblings are far enough and get rid of my little niece."

His smile twisted into a haunting grin.

"What of your nephew?"

"The useless one, or the one following in his father's footsteps?"

"Alex."

"Keep him alive. I just want Alice dead. As for Abel, I can handle that brat."

With his hands behind him, the scorn of House Bladeheart began to make a move of his own.

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Steel City was a bustling metropolis unlike any other. Compared to the capital, it was less refined, but it made up for it with its uniqueness.

A combination of marble and asphalt was used to pave the streams of roads that ran throughout the city.

Train tracks hooked to thick black wires were lined across the cityscape, hosting train cars as they moved along the various rails.

Factories that processed the materials mined from the surrounding mountains lined the streets, foaming smoke into the clouds.

To me, Steel City resembled cities of the Industrial Revolution.

Of course, compared to that time, the technology here was far more advanced — as seen in the cars we drove in.

"Alice, how has your magic training been going?"

Having ignored my sister for a long while now, I decided to start a conversation with her.

Alice was rather expressive in nature; hence, upon my question, she bloomed with joy and quickly flipped through the pages of her spell book.

She then thrust it toward me to see.

I nodded and took the book from her hand, scanning through the page.

It depicted an illustration of a seed.

It continued with a pair of hands injecting mana into the seed, after which a chant written in dark ink followed.

"Nature Magic," I whispered.

I wasn't a mage, but I did know a bit or two about magic because I spent most of my time with Alice.

Basically, mana was a door and a chant was the key to unlock it. There existed millions of chants, and even those were categorized under schools of magic.

Nature Magic was in the Elemental School of Magic and dealt with plant life — basically using mana as an instrument to control it.

Like a certain plant-based villain from a popular comic book universe.

Alice had been practicing it for a while, but let's just say it didn't go too well.

"Alice…"

As I called her name, she took out a tiny plant seed from out of nowhere and showed it to me.

"Don't," I tried to warn, afraid her magic might lead to an accident, but she shook her head, unwilling to comply.

"I can do it."

She puffed her chest and pouted.

She looked like a tiny bunny trying to fend off people from touching its ears.

It was cute, so I decided to trust her.

As for the possibility of an accident, I was confident I would survive — but the car, not so much.

"Fine."

Closing the book, I decided to pay attention to her demonstration.

She smiled in delight before encasing the seed within her palms.

[Paulatim crescere]

Closing her eyes, she brought her lips to her palms and whispered softly.

The surrounding mana began to ripple, taking on a golden color that soon began swirling toward her.

I remained silent and watched.

Sure, Aura users couldn't use mana, but we could see and feel it — and because of that, I was amazed by her control.

Just like Aura users, whom gauged an individual's potential by the efficiency of their core, mages also did so by mana efficiency.

Mana efficiency basically dealt with how well one could wield mana.

The higher one's efficiency, the greater their chances of controlling spells.

My sister Alice was a monster in that category.

Her efficiency was one of the highest in the current era, and it was recorded as [Divine].

It meant that if she tried and mastered enough spells, she could become a powerhouse — one that would one day rival the Magic Gods or even our Emperor.

"As expected, she needs to leave this Empire," I thought, watching as she unraveled her palms and revealed the plant seed coated in her golden aura.

I grew vigilant because usually, it was around this time that the accidents would happen — but today was a day of surprises because the plant seed didn't instantly sprout into a thick tree like before.

This time, it cracked, and tiny vines seeped out from the cracks, soon growing into a rose with beautiful red petals.

I smiled upon such a sight, and she did the same, proud of her achievement.

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