[ 47 ] Astral Prince

Scanning his surroundings, Kal searched on, blocking out the mana of everyone nearby so that he could hone in on Caesil.

He wasn’t sure exactly how far his Void Eye could travel, but secret spell or not, being a second circle spell meant that it would have limitations, and Kal doubted its travel distance could be too great.

Not only that, but the three noble brats were rather low-level mages, and Kal doubted Caesil would leave them too far out of his sight. If he had recruited them, he would have done so for the connections they represented, and that would have been pointless if something had happened to them to sour their relationship.

Ignoring the three nobles, Kal dashed around them along an arcing path, a line of trees separating him from them.

“H-hey—hey you,” the gaudy boy shouted, pointing at Kal. “You, get back here,” he added with another wave of his wand, but nothing happened. It must have been out of mana, finally.

“Sush it, Daidrian,” the little girl nudged the gaudy boy. “We did what we were asked to.”

The Void Eye followed Kal as he ran. If he had used Swift Step, he would likely have outrun it, but it seemed like a waste of mana, and it wasn’t like the Astral Prince didn’t know he was coming.

Kal studied the Void Eye, taking glances over his shoulder as it followed him. The more he watched it, the more impressed he was by the spell. Unlike most Mana Focus spells, the mana link between it and the caster was unusually subtle. Kal was hardly an expert on Mana Focus, but he had experimented enough with his clones and witnessed other spells like the leaf. Those peoples had clear links to their casters or controllers, allowing even mages with far weaker senses than Kal to trace them.

But the Void Eye? The mana link was entirely absent. If Kal was going to find Caesil, he would need to do it with his own wit.

He probably can’t be too far away, but that’s not a lot of help if that’s the only condition. Kal asked himself where he would hide if he were Caesil, but perhaps that was the wrong question.

Wait, slow down a moment, idiot. You’re assuming there aren’t any other conditions. Maybe I just haven’t figured them out yet.

Kal reminded himself that Void Eye was still just a second-circle spell. It was an amazingly helpful utility spell, and he highly doubted it wouldn’t come with additional drawbacks.

Even Vae’s secret spells had weaknesses. His Puppet Hand required Vae to remain unmoving and in control of his spell. His Imprint could only pass on a single still image of whatever he was looking at, and his Farsight spell was, well, just the ability to see really far.

And even though Vae’s spells were only first circle, the gulf between them and Caesil’s near-flawless Void Eye seemed too great.

What if I…

In a blur of action, Kal swung around to the following eyeball and cast Mage Bullet. Void Eye had proven elusive, but he hadn’t given it time to react, and the condensed ball of magical energy whizzed through the air and popped it like a balloon.

The moment the Void Eye burst, he felt a sharp spike of mana to his left. It lasted barely a second or two, and for most mages, it would have been nearly impossible to triangulate. But for Kal, it had been enough for him to get a lock on the mage.

Gotcha now, buddy!

Kal began sprinting toward where the mana spiked, but to his shock, he felt a new source of mana forming. Glancing over his shoulder, he spotted the Void Eye reforming. 

That is a damn nifty spell. Kal was impressed, but he wasn’t bothered. He could feel it. There was no doubt reforming the Void Eye cost Caesil mana, and a lot of it. 

Kal surmised that Caesil was likely so used to relying on the Void Eye that he felt naked without it. Without being able to see his enemy’s every move. But Kal wasn’t trying to rely on stealth, and every point of mana Caesil used meant he had less remaining once he confronted the Astral Prince.

He considered attempting to shoot the eye again. He had little doubt that Caesil used more mana reforming the thing than he used casting Mage Bullet, but Kal held back. He wanted the prince to be overconfident. He wanted him to think that he was angry and running headstrong and unprepared.

Dashing through the underbrush, Kal closed in on his target. The fact that he hadn’t felt the Astral Prince’s mana move told him all he needed to know. The arrogant scion didn’t see him as a real threat.

As he neared, he felt the growing pressure of Caesil’s mana. It was by far the most impressive he had felt among fellow participants in the exam, but he could tell now without a doubt that Caesil had less mana than himself.

Rounding a knot of trees, Kal spotted the dark-haired boy and his famous silver vambraces. 

Now, Kal grinned, jumping into a spin and shooting the Void Eye with another Mage Bullet before landing to face Caesil.

Mana spiked around the Astral Prince again, and his usual nonchalant expression twisted into a scowl. But it didn’t reform. 

I guess he’s on to me. Kal shrugged. It didn’t matter. Wasting the Astral Prince’s mana would have made the confrontation easier, but taking out the Eye was prize enough.

“So, watchya got, little prince?” Kal goaded.

“Don’t waste my time, peasant. I can see you have no objectives on you.”

“But you do, don’t you?”

Caesil’s eyes widened in anger. 

I’m guessing he doesn’t like to be challenged by those he sees as below him.

“You still don’t understand the difference between those of us born of this and those born to polish our shoes,” Caesil shook his head. “How common of you.”

With a clap of his hands, mirror images of Caesil spread out from both sides, counting a dozen in total.

The spell didn’t just create copies of the boy but imitation cores. However, they were simple and easy to read for someone as skilled at sensing mana as Kal. 

Casting Swift Step, Kal flashed forward, and the Prince’s eyes widened in disbelief as he realized his copies hadn’t worked. 

But disbelief faded as quickly as it had firmed, and Caesil smirked.“Too slow,” he teased.

In the blink of an eye, Caesil switched places with one of his mirror images, and Kal passed harmlessly through the copy.

Okay, that is freaking cool, Kal thought, skidding to a halt. But let’s see how long he can keep this up.

Choosing to save on mana, Kal engaged his core stats and charged directly for Caesil. As expected, the boy’s stats weren’t on par with his, and he didn’t even try to outrun him; instead, mana spiked, and he switched places with another copy.

“Enough of this foolishness, peasant boy. You can’t beat me,” Caesil barked. It was an attempt to sound authoritative, but Kal read through it, hearing the thinly veiled panic behind his words.

To the naked eye, it might have appeared as if Caesil was teleporting, but Kal had seen through it. Nonetheless, the incredibly quick movement spell he was using combined with an impressive illusion spell was an undoubtedly great technique. Had they been fighting to the death, Caesil’s fancy secret spells might have been enough to turn the tables, but they weren’t.

Kal immediately swiveled on the spot and charged toward Caesil’s new location. The boy looked on in horror. His fancy spells and their high mana cost had taken their toll.

Having seen Caesil in action, Kal wasn’t surprised that he had stolen the Astral Pouch away from his team. He was fast, and they had been exhausted. Unfortunately for the Astral Prince, the tables had turned.

As Kal neared Caesil again, the mirror images flickered, and he turned to run, desperately sprinting through the forest and away from Kal.

“Still think I’m born to polish your boots?” Kal mocked.

“I’d have torn you apart in a real fight!”

“Excuses, excuses,” Kal shook his head, landing in front of Caesil and cutting him off after a quick cast of Swift Step.

Looking from side to side in a panic, Caesil blinked away to his right, and the mirror images flickered.

“I can keep this up all day,” Kal taunted, chasing after him.

“Swine!” Caesil hissed as Kal cut him off again. “You’ll rue this day!” He tried to cast his movement spell against it, but it fizzled, and the mirror images popped out of existence with a little wisp of smoke a second later.

“So, you’re done already, then?”

“Shut your mouth, peasant. You have no understanding of what real magic is,” Caesil snapped and turned to run, but in a flash, Kal cast Swift Step and blurred past him, snatching the Astral Pouch from his belt.

“Like taking candy from a baby,” Kal gloated, tossing the pouch up and catching it.

“How?” Caesil sneered, skidding to a halt and turning to Kal with a bent glare. “You, it’s not possible. There’s no way some peasant boy could beat me, the Astral Prince. It’s impossible.”

“Well… not really. In fact, it doesn’t just seem possible, but likely,” Kal shrugged, dangling the pouch. “Look, no hard feelings. You did take this from us originally anyway.”

“Void Hand,” Caesil clapped his hands together, and the glyphs along his vambraces lit up. A fraction of a second later, an incorporeal purple hand reached out from a tear that seemed to cut through reality itself, glittering with stars.

Purely through reflexes, Kal cast Swift Step and shot out of reach from the purple hand, but it didn’t stop. The glyphs across Caesil’s vampraces remained glowing brightly as new tears split open, and the hand shot forth from dimensional tears as if the rules of this world didn’t apply to it.

Barely getting a chance to touch the ground, Kal cast Swift Step again, dodging the hand by barely an inch. 

Panting, Kal ducked and dived, casting Swift Step twice in seconds as the hand appeared, cutting through reality wherever he landed.

This is NOT GOOD!

Kal felt the hand brush against his back as he rolled away and caught sight of Caesil through the corner of his eyes. He was moving his hands in time with the Void Hand as if he was controlling it.

Oh, so that’s it.

Casting Mana Whip, Kal wrapped the magical vine around Caesil’s wrist and yanked it, causing the Void Hand to jerk harmlessly aside as it appeared before him again.

Caesil tried to rip his arm free, but Kal effortlessly pulled it back. He still had plenty of mana to fuel his core stats, and with them, Caesil didn’t stand a chance at overpowering his strength.

The Astral Prince tried to order the Void Hand to swing at Kal once more, but the glyphs written across his silver vampraces flickered, and the hand began to crumble.

“Ha, you really are running out of tricks,” Kal said. But despite his show of confidence, the confrontation had been eye-opening. For the first time, he realized that no amount of skill alone could bridge the gap between him and the top scions if he remained poor. Sure, he had beaten Caesil, but the kid couldn’t attack him. In a real fight, mana alone wouldn’t overcome a combination of offense and defense as layered as Caesil’s.

“Sorry, pal. But you lose this one,” Kal said and turned to run back to his team.

“I’ll remember this peasant. You’ve made a powerful enemy today,” Caesil shook a fist as he watched him leave.

Without pause, Kal ran straight through the rest of Team Allseeing, not realizing until he had almost passed them that they were all tangled up in bush and vines.

Turning his gaze back toward the trees ahead of him, he spotted Vae crouched to one knee, hands gripping the branch of a shrubby underbrush bush.

“Keep going; I’ll hold them in place.”

“Thanks, Vae,” Kal saluted as he ran past. He wasn’t overly concerned about the unprepared nobles, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

He continued to run, waving Arix and Ellie on as he reached them. Caesil wouldn’t be recovering his mana anytime soon, but it was safer to create some distance before settling down.

“You did it,” Arix cheered.

“I can’t believe it,” Ellie said, running to make pace with Kal.

“Of course I did. You think I’d let some wannabe prince take our loot after all the work we did to collect this stuff?”

Continuing for several minutes, they found a strong hiding place among thick vegetation and settled down to wait for Vae.

“All in a day’s work,” Kal exhaled and brought up the holographic leaderboard.

• Team Ebenshire - 400

• Team Dreamkeeper - 280

• Team Alpha - 240

• Team Kingmaker - 185

• Team Hijinks - 180

“Would you look at that? We’re at the top,” he grinned.

“There’s still four days,” Arix reminded.

They had just painted a giant target on their back, but Kal couldn’t find the energy to care. 

His heart pounded and his lips curled into a smile and drilled dimples into his cheeks. The feeling was amazing. Kal wanted this feeling to continue. He wouldn’t say it aloud, but he dared someone to come and try and take their treasures.

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