"So? How'd you kill it?"
"I didn't kill that thing, are you crazy!? Well, I definitely could've if it didn't run away. But it got scared after I battered it with rocks and stuff, and I couldn't finish it off."
"Rocks...? Not likely, thryskarn's hide is way too tough to be damaged by a rock. Have you just been trying to make a fool out of me!?"
"No, I didn't bash it over the head with a rock. Actually, I did try that, but it didn't work very well. Instead, I put a bunch of rocks in my hands and shot them at its face with magic."
"Magic? You can do something like that? I thought you've only been an apprentice for a month or two."
"It wasn't that hard or anything. I'm a bit of a prodigy, you know? So it might be a little more impressive to people like you guys. All I did, though—"
"You created a small explosion of flame in your hands, which caused the rocks to fly through the air. Just like those eastern weapons. That's, um, pretty cool," The Prince said.
He sounded sad, even though he wasn't. Linnie was getting kind of annoyed at his persistently melancholy voice, but shrugged it off as a simple peculiarity of the boy.
"Yeah, I don't know what those eastern weapons you're talking about are, but that's what I did! How'd you know!? No way... is that your thing? You're a psychic?"
"Oh, no... nothing like that. I just, uh, I've studied magic for a while. By myself, of course. I've never had a teacher. It was just a lucky guess from the marks on your hands."
"Lucky guess...? Wow, that's pretty smart!"
"I just—I don't know why you'd, uh, do it like that."
"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?"
"It's just an inefficient way to attack it. Mana-wise, I mean. To cause a small explosion that's powerful enough to make the rocks to any real damage... there's much better ways to, um, go about it. I'm surprised it even worked."
"Ahhh, that's where you've got some things wrong, Prince. I don't know any other spells besides fireball! And, I didn't need to. Because I've got unlimited mana!"
"Unlimited mana? As if," Marielle scoffed.
Even The Prince looked dubious.
"No, it's true. I bet you guys are already familiar with how mana is measured, right? With the mana stones?"
"Of course we are," The Lady said, rolling her eyes.
"Yeah, I scored white. So I pretty much don't have to worry about mana, see?"
"W-white!? Ha! No way!" she said. "No way in all of hell! A mongrel like you? Maxing out the stone?"
"It's true~ I'm quite special, didn't Alwyn tell you?"
"White..." The Prince muttered, looking down at his lap.
"So? What was your resonance, Liora?" Marielle asked, overcome with curiosity.
"Ehehe, I don't really know... it wasn't anything cool like white. The mana stone was faulty, too... but Alwyn seemed happy with it, I think."
'What? Is she stupid!? Was she not paying any attention at all when we were testing her mana!?'
"Idiot! The mana stone wasn't faulty—it broke because your mana capacity was way too monstrous!"
The Prince suddenly looked up, brows furrowed.
"Really? It broke?"
"As if! They're messing with us. I've never heard of a mana stone breaking, that's ridiculous." Marielle spat.
"No, it's happened before. I remember reading about it. Only one other wizard ever broke a mana stone before... I don't remember their name."
'Is he talking about Alwyn? Or is there some other wizard out there that's done it?'
She scowled. "You don't remember? I don't get it, if there was someone that great, why wouldn't I know about them?"
"Oh, well, uh, for mana cores... the capacity only matters a little bit. I mean, in most cases, it's just convenient to have a big one. Like with, uh, Lin...nie. He could afford to waste mana, but if he just knew more advanced spells, he wouldn't have needed to. So, what matters most is if a wizard is good at casting spells, rather than if they have a bunch of mana."
Linnie covered his mouth with his hand, hiding his smirk.
'I guess the young lady doesn't know everything, then? Tsk tsk.'
"Hey-hey-hey!" Gerry's voice called out as he walked up the stairs. He appeared holding many plates of food in an almost inhuman way that even put the lady—who's supposedly Alwyn's new chef—to shame.
"Took you long enough," Marielle said.
Though, she was smiling.
"I made a lot of damn food for you and your friends, brat! I better get a good tip!"
"Obviously! Be quick, and then leave us alone! Shoo!"
"Alright, alright!"
He held his hands up, laughing, and left.
"...Go ahead, you guys can eat whatever you'd like. It's on me, naturally."
'Wouldn't The Prince naturally pay the bill? His father rules the entire nation...!'
"Well, if you say so!" Liora grinned, grabbing a handful of food.
Her hand was slapped away.
"With a fork! And spoon!"
"Oh... okay."
Linnie watched as Liora grabbed a fork and knife, and started plating her food. Then he gulped. He half expected her not to know how to use them, but it seemed like he was the odd one out.
He tried his best to mimic the others, and awkwardly grabbed the utensils. They felt unfamiliar in his hands, and he spilled bits of food on the table as he tried to get his fill.
When he looked back up at the others, he wasn't surprised to see Liora's plate piled high. The Prince was much more modest, of course. Marielle, on the other hand...
'What the hell!? She didn't even eat this much earlier...! Is she a monster!?'
"What are you looking at, swine?" she asked.
"Uh, nothing? The food's good."
"I know it is." She paused for a second and swallowed another pound of food. "You never finished the story."
"The story... well, the story's pretty much over, you know? The beast ran away, so I climbed into the carriage to see what was inside. Actually, it was pretty scary, since she tackled me and—"
'Oh. Should I say this part? They're gonna have to find out eventually... I mean, they're gonna be traveling with us. But how would they react to finding out that she's a Siaryn? We got lucky enough that they aren't treating her all weird just for being from the south, but...'
"She tackled you and what?" Marielle asked.
"And nothing! That was it! Haha."
Liora glanced at Linnie with an uncertain expression, and he shrugged.
"Alwyn thought he saw some potential in her or something, and so we tested her on the spot. And she turned out super gifted and we took her in!"
Linnie's use of 'we' was peculiar, considering that if it was up to him in that moment, they would've left her for dead.