Chapter 6
Unaware of what Ann and Anna were thinking, Daphne had been sitting in seiza at the training ground from early morning.
It was to practice mana breathing.
[Daphne Akion]
Stamina: 10 Charm: 300
Strength: 1 Magic Power: 0
She was trying to somehow develop this trashy body.
Every being in the world has a certain amount of magical energy. Even a newborn human baby contains a faint trace of mana. But Daphne’s body had zero magic power.
That had to be because of the curse.
“So first I need to make a mana vessel.”
Magic power refers to the amount of mana.
A mana vessel is where mana is stored.
The larger the vessel, the more mana it can hold, and the higher the magic power.
When she’d been a dragon in the past, the vessel imprinted on her soul had been enormous, so she had never run out of mana.
“But not now.”
She had to build it up from the ground up. She couldn’t force things; the body itself was fragile.
So the priority was to settle a mana vessel inside this damned body.
After that she could draw the “dragon’s magic” imprinted on her soul.
“Not an easy task.”
Still, if she thought of it as a stepping stone for the future, she could bear it.
“Phew.”
Daphne took a slow breath and stared at the mana stone resting on her thigh.
It was the one Teiti had given her before they parted yesterday — after giving her an order.
―Hey, try breathing some power into that mana stone.
―Yes. I exist to do whatever the great Lady Daphne commands.
Utilizing. Teiti had flowed her mana into the stone, and as a result a whirl of power had been trapped inside it.
Daphne took a deep breath and put the mana stone straight into her mouth.
Crunch.
The finely crushed mana stone traveled down her esophagus into her body. At that moment, Daphne felt a burning pain.
“Waaahhhh…!”
She curled up and gripped the sand beneath her.
It hurt. It was agony — absolute, terrible pain!
“Damn it!”
If anyone else had seen her swallow the mana stone whole, they would have been horrified.
Most beings wouldn’t understand what that action meant.
Consuming a mana stone directly is the most effective way to form a mana vessel: forcibly stuffing mana into the body and making it take root.
It was something Selus had learned by frequently chewing and swallowing mana stones, so others wouldn’t know.
“Huff, huff…”
After writhing in pain for some time, Daphne felt the agony subside. She hurriedly sat up and gathered herself.
The mana stone that had entered her settled in the very center of her chest.
The whirlpool of mana that had been churning inside the stone soon spilled out and resonated through her chest.
[Analyzing the amount of mana consumed.]
[A small amount of mana detected.]
She felt mana flowing through her veins. It didn’t travel cleanly, though — the vessels were clogged.
It was like a narrow path clogged with boulders. Daphne focused harder.
She felt the channels gradually clear. The previously blocked mana began to move. Slowly, reactions came.
“……”
Hm?
Something felt off.
Only a moment later, Daphne’s hands and arms began to tremble. Her chest began to heave.
“Cough, gag!”
Plop!
Something shot out of her throat. What fell to the ground was a jet of jet-black liquid.
‘That is…’
There was no time to think further. Black liquid poured from her eyes and nose as well. Sweat glands also convulsed and released the black fluid.
‘Get a grip. Don’t get swept away.’
Daphne summoned desperate concentration.
Pain filled her chest. Torture that twisted her body came. She clenched her fists and accepted the mana’s flow.
Then—
[Absorbing mana.]
“…Done.”
Daphne cheered as she felt her body lighten.
[A mana storage, a mana vessel, has been formed.]
Her magic power rose to 1.
If she trained with mana breathing as before, she could steadily raise her magic power!
“Yes! Awesome!”
Taking a step toward her goal, Daphne giggled and praised herself — Selus was amazing, the greatest.
“But what about this black liquid…”
She carefully touched the liquid strewn across the sand.
“The mark of a curse, huh.”
Her guess that the curse had left her with zero magic power was right. The curse had likely been infecting Daphne’s body, preventing it from absorbing any mana.
“Just in case, I’ll store a sample.”
Daphne took a small glass vial, put a little of the liquid inside, and covered it with sand to hide the traces. She didn’t want others to see and make baseless assumptions.
“What a nasty curse.”
Even the great dragon Selus felt an unpleasant aura from it.
If the curse was that wicked, the dark mage who’d cast it must have been full of rage.
It probably wasn’t just because the Hero had killed the dark mage…
“Well, none of my concern.”
She’d made a mana vessel and increased her magic; now all that remained was consistent mana training to accumulate more. Then she’d swallow the Hero’s family! Swallow the world!
“Hehehe.”
An evil smile curled on Daphne’s lips — at that moment—
“Eek!”
She smacked the back of her head and shot her head up, clutching it, to see a boy standing before her with his arms folded, grinning triumphantly.
His red hair had a faint pinkish tint and was neatly combed, childish chubby cheeks still plump — cute in a way — but his blue eyes were sharp with adult coldness.
“You worthless thing…!”
Daphne scowled.
“How dare you hit me? You want a thrashing so badly?”
She clenched her fist.
“Say your name. I’ll take it as your last words before you die.”
“Huh?”
Even though Daphne spoke very threateningly, the boy only looked exasperated and twisted his mouth.
“Hey, now.”
He flicked a finger.
“You really changed oddly, didn’t you?”
He was the third of the Hero family.
Arius Akion.
Arius Akion is the third son of the Hero family, the Akion house.
Above him are an older sister one year older and a brother five years older. Below him, three years younger, is Daphne Akion.
But Arius didn’t think of Daphne as his sister.
Not merely because the others were adopted, nor just because Daphne was the legitimate heir carrying the family bloodline.
Arius hated Daphne because she was the cursed child born from his mother’s death.
His mother had been a wonderful person. She had rescued him when no one — not even his biological parents — knew of him, taking him from an orphanage where he awaited death.
She had given him deeper, warmer love than his birth parents ever had, and Arius had been happy — he’d wished that happiness would never end.
But happiness shattered in an instant when Daphne was born.
Their mother died giving birth to Daphne.
‘If you were born killing Mother, shouldn’t you at least live well?’
Daphne was terminally ill.
A short time left to live — a death sentence.
Arius felt none of the sympathy you might expect. He didn’t feel pity or sorrow.
It was as if those emotions had been erased from his mind.
He only felt anger, annoyance, hatred; he wanted her gone as soon as possible.
Of course he knew mentally that he shouldn’t think that way, but instinctively he reacted like that. Daphne was repulsive.
So he treated her as if she didn’t exist for five years.
During that time, Daphne — knowing she was the sole rightful heir — used her illness as a weapon and acted like a little delinquent.
Screams often echoed from the annex where she stayed.
Then one day.
She suddenly died.
Truly, at some point she’d just stopped breathing.
When Arius heard that, he felt like a thorn had been removed.
She’s finally dead.
Tch.
That was his immediate thought. But then—
‘She’s alive again.’
Arius narrowed his eyes and looked at Daphne sitting up.
Daphne looked half a face — gaunt.
Her shining blonde hair and pretty green eyes were still cute, but she was thin enough it was hard to call her a five-year-old.
‘…A little pitiful, maybe.’
But that thought only lasted a moment.
As was said, Daphne was the child born killing his mother. There was no reason to feel sorry for such a child.
“Hey, look at that.”
So Arius forced a mocking sneer as he looked at Daphne.
“You really changed strangely, huh?”
From what the maids had said earlier, Daphne had apparently become very different.
She wasn’t acting like a delinquent, and she’d even taken to training.
Arius was sure this change wouldn’t last.
After all, Daphne had been a delinquent, abominably rude, and a wicked child who killed Mother by being born.
“Hey. No matter how much you struggle, you’re going to die anyway. So stop pretending and go back to your room to bother the maids like before.”
“……”
Daphne slowly rose to her feet and stared at Arius with a piercing gaze filled with killing intent.
Startled, Arius momentarily flinched.
Why did a five-year-old’s eyes hold murderous intent?
Arius prided himself on being a capable swordsman — his gaze was nothing to scoff at — but Daphne’s was worse. Watching it he felt his legs go weak.
Gulp.
Unconsciously he swallowed dry saliva.
“First of all.”
Daphne’s mouth opened slowly as she stared at him.
“Let’s start with one punch.”
Wham!
Arius was sent flying.
