Chapter 151 - Attempt

Despite the exhaustion, Zaos still studied for a while after dinner. Since he wanted to help his mother whenever possible instead of waiting for a doctor or healer when she feels under the weather, Zaos decided to practice the spell that alleviates the effects of fevers. However, the symbols necessary were a bit weird compared to the other healing spells. Putting in simple terms, the symbols to healing spells were quite round. In contrast, offensive spells were pointy. It was a pretty interesting symbolism and certainly wasn't a coincidence. Regardless, the new symbols were oval-ish and pointy in some parts.

"This doesn't make any sense…" Zaos said.

Zaos tried to recall from memory and found a pattern on the symbols, just like he had imagined. Offensive spells had pointy symbols, and healing spells had round ones. As for the defensive ones, like magic barriers, they were square-like… so, it was safe to assume the spell to decrease the effects of fever wasn't a healing spell per se. It was something else.

Zaos took a break and noticed that the same thing could be applied in the other spells that decreased some symptoms. In the end, he made a mental note to ask Edea if she knew the reason for that. After practicing for a while, Zaos managed to make the spell to decrease the effects of fever decrease work. Still, he didn't notice any difference in his skills list. His sorcery didn't level up either, so that was a downer.

"I guess this is it for today, mom will notice that I am up to something if I don't train tomorrow morning," Zaos concluded.

The following day, much to Zaos surprise, he found his father waiting for him. That was weird… they never practiced two days in a row before.

"Why are you surprised?" Laiex asked. "Unless you want your blade to become dull, you have to train hard everyday and training without sparring often isn't that useful."

That seemed useful and natural, but Zaos knew that things weren't supposed to be that simple. Instead of training with his father, Zaos would progress perhaps even more by training with Drannor… still, if he was planning something, Laiex didn't show Zaos what he was planning.

After practicing with his father for one hour, Zaos practiced his sword skills by himself, and then he cleaned himself and had breakfast with his mom. After finishing his meal, Zaos saw himself with plenty of free time and nothing real to do. He wondered if he could talk with his mother about the healing spells that could make others feel better while they are sick, but he couldn't find a subtle way to do it. So, in the end, he decided to meditate.

"Mom, I am going to the castle again," Zaos said. "Ameria is bothering me to teach her some magic, I am going to see if His Majesty gave her the permission to learn it or not."

"All right, don't teach her anything too dangerous," Lyra said.

"I doubt that I will have any fun," Zaos said.

Zaos also doubted that he could teach the princess anything that wasn't dangerous. After all, he developed his fighting style to survive and beat the crap out of others who were faster and physically stronger. In any case, after a while, Zaos arrived at the garden, and he found Drannor and Ameria waiting for him.

"Again… you sure have a lot of time in your hands," Zaos said after a long sigh.

"Well, this looked interesting, so I decided to watch," Drannor said.

"Do you have permission to learn it?" Zaos asked.

"Yes," Ameria said with her full of excitement.

"Wait a minute, I am going to check it," Zaos said.

"You think I would lie like this?" Ameria asked.

"No, I am just going to reveal that this might be a bit dangerous and that might also change His Majesty's mind."

"Hey," Ameria tried to protest.

In the end, Zaos talked with the king, but even though he tried really hard to convince him, Zaos failed. In fact, he was quite interested in letting his daughter learn a fighting style that was different from everything he had seen. Besides, letting her stay occupied with something was one of the things he had been desperately trying to find.

"Are you satisfied?" Ameria asked.

"Not really…" Zaos said and then sighed. "Anyway, let's start with the basics. Lend me your bow. I will teach you how to use this."

After picking the and nocking an arrow, Zaos enchanted the arrowhead with wind magic and then let it fly. In the blink of an eye, it bit the target. Not to mention, it pierced very deeply. Zaos wasn't a good archer per se, but he could improve his Aim by using magic like that.

"If you infuse wind magic in the arrow head, you can increase the piercing power, speed, and the distance an arrow can fly," Zaos said. "Since you aren't half bad with a bow, I figured that can make you improve."

Ameria had good eyes, good enough to let her see her arrows flying before hitting the target. Still, this time, she didn't see the arrow, so she was completely mesmerized. Zaos's first plan worked pretty well. He knew that most kids couldn't work hard unless they had some goals of their own, and her goal this time certainly was something she wanted to achieve.

"All right, what type of magic can you use?" Zaos asked.

Ameria closed her eyes and then pointed her right hand toward the target. After twenty or so seconds, she finally fired an Earth Bullet toward the target… but the projectile lost speed and power before it hit it.

"It seems you haven't been training this spell a lot lately," Zaos said. "Considering that learning new spells also increases your magic power, I assume that you don't know any other, am I right?" 

"... Yes," Ameria said hesitantly.

Zaos almost let out a sigh. That was the worst thing he could have done… Regardless, at least he won't have to start from the absolute beginning.