“Mentor.”
While Kael and Veylara were flying back, Kael called out, as if recalling something.
“Hm?”
“Do you have an affinity crystal?”
“Affinity Crystal? Why do you need that?”
“I need to check something.”
“Affinity Crystal only shows the element you have affinity with. Yours is fire, what else do you wish to check?”
“There might be a chance that I have affinity with other elements as well.”
“Huh?”
Veylara frowned.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
She shook her head.
“Well, I am the Hero.”
Kael used the same excuse as always.
Veylara stayed silent for a moment as she glanced at Kael,
“You don’t need an Affinity Crystal to know whether you have an affinity with an element or not.”
“What does that mean?”
Kael frowned.
“When you gather your Mana, you must be able to ‘see’ Fire Elements all around you, do you not?”
“Yes.”
Kael nodded.
“Do you see any other elements besides Fire Elements?”
“…I don’t?”
Kael tilted his head.
“Then you do not have affinity to any other elements.”
“Huh…?”
Kael frowned at those words.
It didn’t make sense.
“You don’t suddenly awaken affinities with new elements, Kael. It is something you are born with. You were born with a fire affinity and quite a strong one at that. I still remember how that girl called me the instant she got home and couldn’t stop talking about you.
Stick to the gift you have and don’t be greedy, everyone has limits, even the Hero.”
“…”
Kael didn’t know what to say.
His Fire Affinity came from his Bond with Igni, didn’t it? His Affinity became even stronger when Igni turned into a Primordial Fire Dragon, so Kael was almost completely sure Igni was the reason for his Fire Affinity.
After Igni, he had bonded with 3 more Bonds and every single one of them had potential as good as Igni’s, if not stronger, so in theory…
He should be getting their affinities as well, shouldn’t he?
‘Is it just related to my first Bond?’
Kael came up with a theory.
It didn’t make much sense, but he was literally thinking about casting magic and elemental affinities, nothing here made sense.
In the end, Kael just turned silent and nodded at Veylara’s words as they then returned to the Royal Palace, before night, just like the King had ordered them to.
Kael returned to his room, while Veylara stayed in her spare room in the palace.
Yes, the woman had decided that she would stay here and protect Kael. She would keep an eye on everything around the place and once again involve herself in the politics she had stayed away from all this while.
Also, since she had taken over Kael’s training, no other instructor was needed. Yes, Kael would still be training with his other instructors, but that would only happen when Veylara is satisfied with his progress and allows him to.
Yes, it was Tyranny, but none of the instructors dared to complain. None of them wanted a visit from one of the Demi-Gods.
Kae, who was in his room, chuckled as he thought about it, he then stared at the book Veylara had given him. It was Elira who sent it.
The Court Mage realized that since her mother took over, it would take a while before she would actually get her student back. So she personally wrote down a list of about 50 spells, drew the runes required to cast them, mentioned the possible modifications, and different ways to use these modifications in this book so Kael could learn them all without having to waste his time.
At the last page of the book, there was even a warning,
‘Return to me without learning all these spells and see how I boil you alive.
Do it, I dare you.’
Kael laughed when he read those words.
Of course, he didn’t dare take the warning as a joke and started reading the book.
‘Father.’
Suddenly, Igni called out.
‘It is the King.’
“Huh…?”
Kael frowned.
Knock Knock
He heard a knock. He quickly opened the doors and just as Igni said, it was the King.
“Your Majesty.”
Kael frowned.
Alden smiled lightly, as if waiting for something.
“Please come in.”
Kael spoke, he was still a little confused as to why the King was here. This was the first time the King had ever visited him like this.
“I hope I didn’t disturb you.”
The King spoke as he walked in and sat on the chair.
“No, of course not.”
Kael shook his head as he walked next to the King. The King, noticing his body language, shook his hand,
“You do not have to be so tense. As I said, there is no need for formalities when it is just you and me.”
“Yes.”
Kael nodded politely.
He still didn’t dare ask why the man was here but Alden just chuckled.
“I just wanted to know if you were okay.”
“Hmm?”
Kael frowned.
“You were taken away by Veylara, she is not the most… orthodox instructor. So I just came to make sure you were okay.
If you feel it is too much, you can say it and you will go back to your usual instructors.”
“…”
Kael blinked in surprise.
The King was here… because he was worried…?
This man?
Wasn’t he the one who appointed Deren, Arlan, and Elira as his instructors?
After leaving him with those monsters, Veylara was the one he worried about?
Kael couldn’t understand.
And Alden sensed his confusion and frowned as well,
“Is something wrong?”
He questioned.
“I…”
Kael didn’t know how to say it.
“Hero Kael, I have told you time and time again, please speak your mind.”
Alden urged.
“I have trained under Instructor Deren, Arlan, and Elira, Your Majesty. Lady Veylara is… quite tame compared to them.”
“…huh?”
Now, it was the King’s turn to be confused, shocked even.
“Did you just call Veylara… tame?”
If the King was a robot, his system would have crashed by now, unable to believe the absurdity of the situation.
To think a sane man called Veylara tame!
Wait…
Was Kael sane?
What if Veylara went too far and broke the Hero’s mind instead!?
The King widened his eyes in horror as he thought of that possibility, he stared at the Hero and seeing how the man was looking at him with a confused look on his face, the possibility became stronger.
‘He lost his mind.’
The King declared in his head.
The Hero was a lost cause.
They all were indeed fucked.
“At the very least, she didn’t try to kill me on the first day…”
Kael answered, still confused as to why the King was acting like this.
“She didn’t?”
The King blinked in surprise.
“No…?”
Kael tilted his head and the King couldn’t believe it,
“She didn’t break your arms and throw you into a horde of beasts to fend for yourself?”
“…no?”
Kael answered, this time, his voice was much lower than before as his body trembled at that thought.
“She didn’t make you run with torn leg muscles? Or maybe swing a sword a thousand times with a broken shoulder?
She didn’t make you do any of that?”
“What in the hell are you even talking about?”
Kael couldn’t control himself and blurted out loud.
“Who trains people like that?”
The King didn’t mind his tone, rather, his face looked as if he was witnessing a miracle.
“She didn’t…”
He couldn’t believe it.
And Kael…
He had started reconsidering the choices he had made till now,
Did he… really choose the right mentor?