Scarlet had naturally noticed when Joshua had used his powerful crowd control skill on Jonathan, rendering him stunned for what would likely be several minutes, if not hours.

Not that she minded. She and her mother were better off with the man out of the picture. So she returned her attention to the other children.

Despite her expectations based on their stereo-types in stories, the noble children were nothing but friendly to her. Though this was probably because Charles had introduced her as his ‘guest’.

While the children seemed to have enough understanding that being introduced as a guest, rather than by her parents’ status, means she was a commoner, it also meant that to purposely go out of their way to insult her was like going out of their way to insult the Duke household.

There were six children in total, four boys and two girls: Sidney Golden, Nico Graf, Andy Distel, Garci Catico, Caesia Silvana, and Raphaela Gruber. 

Of the six of them, only Garci and Raphaela seemed to be at the party because they themselves had just gotten their Bonds, while the other four were slightly older children, with Nico being the oldest at 9 years old and would soon be turning 10 and receiving his Class. 

It seemed that the older children were not there for younger siblings, but because they were third and forth children of their families and would become the future retainers of Charles, when Charles one day would inherit his family. Though the boy treated them more like friends or comrades in arms rather than subordinates.

Save for when he was scolding Garci and Raphaela for not recognizing Scarlet from the awakening ceremony because they had used their noble status to skip the line, being among the first children out of the hall because of it.

The boy and girl blushed in embarrassment at being lectured, while the others chuckled about how seriously Charles took the matters of Noble duty and never abusing one’s status, even if the abuse was harmless.

“It’s not like we held anyone up by much by skipping the line. It would only be a difference of three minutes for most.” Raphaela mumbled weakly. The pink-haired girl pouted as she held her otter Bond close to her chest. The bond being nearly as big as she was. It must have weighed 50 pounds, but she held it with relative ease.

“It’s a matter of ethics. If everyone always skipped in line then it would be chaos, and since it isn’t right for everyone to always do so, that means you shouldn’t do it.” Charles said in the manner of a disappointed elementary school teacher who found their students misbehaving.

“Charles is only mad because you left him to wait properly alone.” Sidney said with a childish grin, pushing up his glasses on his nose. Being around 7, he was an older member in the group, but he was still on the short side and had short black hair in a bowl cut. “I heard you were there for six whole hours.”

“That… has nothing to do with it.” Charles said, though he couldn’t meet their eyes as a blush formed on his face.

Scarlet smiled a little to herself. Because of their high levels and intelligence, the group of children weren’t like normal children their age in many aspects, but they still had a sense of innocence about them all the same.

“Oh, I just remembered. You were interested in resistance training clothes, right?” Scarlet said, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a long sleeve with a shoulder strap attached. 

“Ah! You already have one?” Charles said, 

“This is the latest proto-type. This one is designed to be worn over the clothes, but because of that, the resistances are a bit awkward at times. But if you wear under your clothes, it interferes with mana restoring clothing you are wearing over it. I'm currently trying to figure out a way to work around that problem.” Scarlet said before holding it out to Charles. “Try it on and tell me what you think.”

“Alright.” Charles said enthusiastically, taking the piece of cloth before rolling up one of his sleeves to reveal his magic training weight under his formal clothes. 

“You were wearing your training weights, here?” Caesia said in disbelief. 

“Of course. Aren’t you?” Charles said, looking at his friends with puzzlement.

“My Lord, you are the only person who takes training this seriously.” Andy said with a shake of the head, causing his long green hair to wave about behind him.

“Not true. Scarlet takes training WAY more seriously than that.” Branwen objected, flapping her wings. “She’s been practicing [Invocationless Magic] since before we got here.”

“R...Really?” Andy said looking at the girl who was about a year younger than him.

“It… It’s just some basic [Abjuration Magic].” Scarlet admitted weakly. “I couldn’t wear resistance equipment with my dress, so I’ve been using a low level spell to increase the resistance of the air around me to make moving a little harder.”

“...Both younger than me, and better at magic. So cruel.” Andy said, hanging his head. “I can’t cast spells at all without giving it my full attention.”

“Same here.” Caesia admitted, the slightly older girl with beautiful silver hair.

“If you need help starting to train your [Multitasking] skill, I can suggest a few training methods you can use.” Scarlet said.

“You have the [Multitasking] skill?” Caesia asked.

“Yes. I have it at level 62.” 

“... level 62?” Caesia said, her eyes going wide.

“That’s right. I focused on it hard early on, because with a decent level of [Multitasking] you can train multiple skills at the same time. Like using your hands for sowing or swinging a sword, while your mind focuses on [Mana Control] or [Invocations]. And because doing both at the same time makes each of them individually harder, it proves better training for the individuals as well. So it is really efficient.” Scarlet said, enthusiastically explaining to them her method of grinding levels. “Though its become even better ever since I started using resistance training clothes, because I can increase my training based levels at the same time, and physical skills become even harder to practice, so they grow even faster.”

“I see.” Caesia said, her shoulders falling. “To think that someone exists who would make our training under uncle seem relatively relaxed.”

“Yes. It does seem as though I have been too easy on you kids.”

“Eep!” Caesia squeaked as she and the others spun around to see a tall and slender man in his mid thirties with a long silver ponytail standing behind them, his grin hidden behind a paper fan. On the man’s shoulder was a mantis that was an odd sky blue color, almost blending in with the cloud designs on the man’s loose clothes.

“Uncle Mehal, what… what are you doing here?” Caesia said, starting to sweat at the sight of her uncle/teacher.

“Did you honestly think that I wouldn’t come to this party?” Mehal said with a smile, before quick as a flash, his fan snapped shut and was thrust into the girl’s forehead at lightning speed, only being pulled back at the last moment before impact so that it just bumped into her head lightly, shocking rather than hurting the girl and causing her to fall back on her butt. “You would have noticed me if you had been paying proper attention to your [Mana Sense]. I’ll have to add more exercises to your training schedule. That goes for you as well, Mr. Distel.”

“But it’s a party~!” Caesia whined, while Andy just winced and nodded in resignation. 

“In the future, your comrades’ lives may depend upon your vigilance. Never forget that.” Mehal said, reopening his fan. “Never assume that you are safe.”

“Hm… This is a rather tight fit.” Charles said, not even registering anything going on around him as he had been busy putting on the long sleeve that covered everything from his right wrist up to his shoulder, with a strap going around his chest to make moving the shoulder more difficult.

“Sorry. It was fit for me. I guess your arms must be a bit larger than mine.” Scarlet apologized.

“It’s alright. It seems that despite its resistance to movement, it is capable of stretching a bit without much issue.” Charles said as he started to try to stretch with the sleeve on. “Wow… This is… Really difficult.” He grunted as he moved his arm around. “It's a lot tougher than the training weights were. But it doesn’t really weigh anything. It is so strange that both forward and backwards motion is restricted. Usually with the weights, gravity could assist with downward motion, but that isn’t the case here.”

“Yeah, though correcting your balance on the fly when your legs are restricted as well is extremely hard. It ends up helping with [Strength Training], [Dexterity Training], [Endurance Training] and [Reflex Training] all at once, while you are doing your normal weapon training routines.” Scarlet said cheerfully. “For my own set, I also added that you need to constantly feed it a specific spell every 10 seconds order to lessen the resistance to a manageable level, so you need to train you [Invocationless Magic] and [Material Enhancement Magic] if you want to move at all.”

“...Unfortunately, I only recently gained [Mana Sense] and [Mana Control] so they are too low of levels for me to use magic yet. It will be months before cycling mana increases my level by enough to start learning. Do you have any suggestions on how to raise their levels?” Charles asked. 

“Hm. When I got started with [Mana Control] training, what I found most helpful was just using [Magic Appraisal] on every object I could get my hands on, so long as I had mana to spare. But that was only because it was cheap and my mana supply was limited. Since you have some equipment for recharging your mana already, you should try...” 

Scarlet and Charles continued to talk about training methods while Charles’ friends/retainers just watched them in bewilderment, feeling that they should stop them, for the sake of their own futures, but not knowing how.

Meanwhile, Mehal observed the girl.

She was so excited to talk about training with someone that she was letting things slip. Like how she had been the one to enchant the training articles, and that she was creating custom spells and enchantments, rather than using those she read from a book. 

“Charles. Could you let me take a closer look at that?” Mehal asked as he approached the boy, touching the piece of cloth and moving the boy’s arm in order to check the resistance. He also cast an identify spell, in order to learn as much as he could about the item, though it was too far out of his range of expertise for him to understand much. 

But it was a Tier 5 enchant.

A 5-year-old girl making a complex Tier 5 enchantments? Assuming she had spent a Talent Point on it, she would have to have an [Enchanting] skill around level 80. It would be among the top 1% of enchanters. Mehal was impressed.

“This really is something impressive. I wouldn’t mind having something like it myself. Do you take commission?” Mehal asked.

“Um… Usually my mother and I only do that kind of stuff for dresses… but… If you want us to make something for you, talk to ‘William Baker’ at the Mage’s Guild. He’ll contact us about the details.” Scarlet said, trying to make sure they didn’t go to her father.

“William? You know William?” Mehal said, surprised to hear the name of the attendant boy who had served Richard before deciding he wanted to dedicate his life to researching magic. He had been a kid who was too busy sticking his nose in books about theory to practice the application.

“Yes. He’s my teacher.” Scarlet said.

‘I don’t believe you.’ The words almost came flying out of Mehal’s mouth.

It wasn’t that William hadn’t been a motivated and intelligent kid. He was just too focused on the theory of magic, rather than its practicalities. There was no way that this girl was his disciple. Then, something occurred to him. He looked up and across the room towards what appeared to be an elderly looking wizard staring at a piece of art on the wall. 

The King’s Shadow, Typhus.

“I see. So you’re another one of his students.” Mehal said with a twitch of his mouth. “I’ll make sure to place an order for training clothes for myself and the children. Now, if you will excuse me.”

He took a little pleasure in seeing his student’s twitch at the thought of harsh future training as he himself walked off, towards the ‘elderly wizard’.

---

 

Typhus stood solemnly in one corner of the grand hall, away from the other party goers, staring at one of the many painting’s which decorated the place.

It was a portrait, a relatively new one, done of a young woman in her twenties, her long golden hair flowing down to her narrow waist. She was holding a dragon, one the size of a large cat, with pure white fur and tiny white horns, its little paws resting on her ample breasts as she and the dragon looked out of the painting with radiant smiles.

“Artist was full of shit. It barely looks anything like her.” Typhus said miserably, as he remembered the spitfire of a woman, her hands on her hips as she looked up at him with a look of extreme disapproval that somehow just ended up seeming like a childish pout.

“How long are you planning on looking at that painting for, Master?” Mehal asked.

The young man had tried his best to sneak up on the half-demon, but Typhus had known he was there before the first left the children.

“I was considering stealing it and taking it home with me.” Typhus said casually.

“The Duke would know it was you in an instant.” Mehal pointed out.

“Which is why I will wait. Sooner or later he will die and no one will mind if I take it then. Waiting for thirty or forty more years isn’t a big deal for me.” Typhus said with a shrug. “How’ve you been?”

“Doing well. I’ve taken on teaching Richard’s boy and his friends.”

“So I’ve heard. I’m surprised you agreed to teach your niece after everything that happened.” Typhus said, having kept up with what had been going on around his former student.

“I’m not so petty as to hold Caesia accountable for the actions of the late Viscount.” Mehal replied, refusing to refer to the man as his father.

After his Bond awakened, Mehal was seen as a disgrace, having been bonded to a tiny and weak bug. As such, he had been disowned and thrown out into the streets at the age of 5.

It had been Jessica, the Duke’s little sister and the young woman in the painting, who had found Mehal after the boy used his Bond Skill to try to steal food.

She bashed his head in, yelled at him for a solid ten minutes, and then dragged him home with her.

To claim that she had been gentle and kind would be a lie, but she had taken him in. She had provided for him and had refused to let him wallow in his self-loathing. She and Typhus had worked together in order to train him. Typhus had been 8 years older than him, and Jessica had been 12. But despite this, they had looked after him. Because of them, he had become strong, despite having a weak Bond.

If things had gone differently, he would have dedicated his life to serving her.

“Speaking of students, I didn’t expect you to train someone for real again.” Mehal said casually.

“I didn’t.” Typhus said. “I know you are talking about Scarlet, but the girl is basically self-taught. Besides providing her with books, Will and I haven’t done much for her. She just has an unnatural amount of talent and determination.”

“...Is that so?” Mehal said, a bit disappointed. “Can I still place my request for the enchanted training gear she makes with you?”

“...The what?” Typhus said not having a clue what Mehal was on about.

There was always something going on with that girl.

As Mehal explained, Richard called the hall to attention, announcing that everyone had arrived and that the party would officially begin.

---

“Now, before we start with the normal festivities, I would like to remind everyone that today is meant to be for the children, to celebrate their new Bonds and their first step to fulfilling their duties to King and Kingdom.” Richard said as he stood before the congregation of about 200 people, trying not to be annoyed with his father for deciding to have a party and then skipping out on it. “And in the spirit of letting them celebrate their new found abilities, I propose that we give the children a chance to show off. A little talent show, if you will.”

“...Huh?” Scarlet said, her face dropping as the gathering erupted in sounds of approval. “But… I didn’t prepare.”

---

 

A stage was prepared within minutes and the talent show started soon after. 

There wasn’t much to it really. The kids would just go up on stage and display one of their Bond Skills for the crowd, and regardless what it was, they would clap for the child. Just like with any elementary school talent show.

Still, Scarlet couldn’t help but to get more and more nervous as time progressed. With her family name being ‘Wright’ and alphabetical order being the bitch that it was, Scarlet was set to go dead last.

Watching did show though that there was a lot of variation among the noble children.

Some had about 100 units of mana to work with, while others had triple or quadruple that among. Charles and his friends seemed to be among the highest levels of the group, on account of Mehal having taken them all hunting at the frontier, as well as more strict training.

And more mana usually meant they had trained their Bonds to a higher level, which meant a better performance.

So theoretically, Scarlet should be fine. While smaller than almost all the adults in the crowd, she had a super large mana pool for her age. So she would be fine… Right?

“Deep breaths. Just remember. Deep breaths.” Scarlet said to herself, taking large gulps of air as she waited for her turn behind the stage.

“I don’t get why you are so nervous. Don’t you usually have to perform in front of a much larger group of slaves?” A voice said, shocking Scarlet.

She looked up to see an elderly wiz… No… A figure who was cloaked in [Illusion Magic].

“Sorry to shock you. I suppose we haven’t met in person before, but I would still like to count myself among your acquaintances.” The man said as he walked forward. “My name is Hubert. You might know me as William’s adviser.”

“...So cool.” Scarlet said as she and Branwen activated [True Sight] in order to see past the disguise of an elderly wizard to the blue skinned devil of a man underneath.

Typhus blinked in surprise before grinning wildly. “Oh. So you can see past my illusions can you? Impressive. And I am quite cool, aren’t I?” He said, putting a hand to his chin and posing slightly.

“Yeah… Oh. It’s nice to meet you, Professor.” Scarlet said, remembering her manners.

How strange. She could see him for what he was, but didn’t seem frightened. Everyone was frightened or disgusted with him their first time. There had only ever been two exceptions. And Scarlet was supposed to be afraid of normal men. 

Perhaps it was because he was detached enough from humans to not trigger her anxieties about them… or maybe it was his incubus blood having an effect on her, since she saw through the illusion that usually masked it.

...She should be too young for that to be the cause.

“It is nice to meet you as well, Scarlet.” Typhus said walking forward a bit more before stopping. “I was just stopping by in order to say hello and to give you a gift, since you are the student of my student.”

He knelt down to be at eye level with the girl before pulling out a pouch, and holding it out to her. She barely hesitated before holding her own hand out and letting him drop the pouch into it.

“Hn! An Item Bag!?” Scarlet said in amazement as Typhus handed her the ultra-rare Tier 8 magic item. A small bag capable of holding 10 tons of materials on the inside, with it only registering as 1 pound on the outside.

“Just some things that have been lying about since my retirement. Nothing special. Just thought that you might be able to make better use of them.” Typhus said before giving the girl a wink. “Remember kid. You’ve got talent. All you need to do is apply yourself and there isn’t anything you can’t do. The only barriers that exist for you are in your own mind.” He then stood up and started to walk away as Scarlet clutched the Item Bag close. “Go knock them dead kid.”

He then started to mouth an incantation, and moments later, he was surrounded in an illusion so thick that even [True Sight] couldn’t see through it, vanishing from sight.

“Ms. Wright. It’s your turn.” One of the maids kindly said as she poked her head back stage, causing Scarlet to jump.

“Okay.” Scarlet said before walking out onto the stage. Her knees took a hit as she saw the hundreds of eyes staring at her as she entered the stage, but she took a deep breath and forced herself calm as she reached center stage. (Alright Branwen. Let’s do it.)

(Right!) The raven shouted before jumping off of Scarlet’s shoulder and reverting back to its full size in the air, growing to the size of a bald eagle, with a wingspan of 6 feet.

She flew one circle around Scarlet before the pair used ‘Spirit Merge’ and the long white wings grew out of Scarlet’s back.

Using [Control Wind Currents], Scarlet pulled herself up off the ground in order to suspend herself a few feet in the air. Then, she clasped her hands in front of her, and began to sing.

The [Song of Valor] worked differently than the [Song of the Earth].

Where the [Song of the Earth] was a healing ability which would heal throughout its entire duration and continue so long as she was singing, looping back on itself, the [Song of Valor] had a beginning and an end, and its effect would come into place after the song was complete. Though the entire process was a spectacle. 

Light gathered around Scarlet’s body as she sang, the mana she was using forming around her as the song progressed, its rhythm much more rapid than the [Song of the Earth]. A hymn to psyche the listeners up, rather than relax their spirit. Something that felt like it should be accompanied by the drums of war.

There were no words to the [Song of Valor], but its meaning could be felt by those who listened, and as the song came to an end, the light spread over the audience and they could feel the song's effects.

A temporary stat boost, around 10% to all stats.

Scarlet breathed a deep sigh as she finished the song and allowed herself to descend back down to the ground. But as she landed and she and Branwen let the merge die down, she noticed that it was a little too quiet.

She looked out over the crowd of shocked faces, confused and wondering if she had done something wrong, until the clapping started… and grew to a thunderous volume.

...She wished it would go back to being quiet.