Serena and the Mysterious Labyrinth - Chapter 220

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

220. There’s No Strange Magic in the World (1)

The 3rd Layer where flying monsters soar through the vast sky.

The 7th Floor where blue sky spreads wide above the town square.

And even the 34th Floor Commander’s Room of the 9th Layer that had no ceiling.

All the places where Serena had cast lightning magic so far had sky.

So the Princess didn’t know. The fact that her lightning magic couldn’t be cast without sky.

“It’s weird that lightning doesn’t fall just because the ceiling is blocked!”

Serena abandoned her princess dignity and rolled on the floor, flailing her limbs. Then she covered her face, exhausted by her own tantrum.

‘No wonder I learned it so easily.’

Let’s say she managed to learn up to 4th tier magic thanks to the theoretical knowledge remaining from when she was afflicted with protagonist syndrome.

From 5th tier magic onward, talent really matters. You can confidently introduce yourself as a disciple of the God of Magic starting from 5th tier.

It was also a mandatory requirement when selecting royal mages in Huji.

Serena had learned lightning magic, which was notoriously difficult even among 5th tier spells, in a day.

Strong and vivid imagery had compensated for insufficient theory and mana manipulation. The adverse effects were revealed today.

‘Should I be glad I found out now or not.’

Serena covered her face and groaned, then asked the Minotaur God while lying down.

“By any chance, would you be willing to remove the ceiling of the 35th Floor Command Room?”

“Oh dear. That’s troublesome. That place has an underground arena concept.”

“Yes, I understand.”

She gave up immediately since she hadn’t expected much. She was going to regress soon anyway, so it would be a waste not to talk to the Minotaur God at all.

‘Ugh! I really hate this!’

She wanted to resent the world, the God of Magic, and Grey who had accurately pinpointed Serena’s problem!

But Serena knew that the one she should actually resent and hate was herself.

She always knew too well, which was the problem.

Serena went into her capsule, lay on the bed, and kicked off the blanket. She kicked it off refreshingly while screaming silently and cursing herself for being stupid.

“Grey.”

Grey unconsciously turned his head at the sound of the Princess calling him, then was slightly surprised.

The Princess’s expression as she emerged from the capsule was colder than usual, and her eyes were chilly.

The mysterious orange eye that was rarely born only in House of Huaim, and a single eye at that, stared at Grey.

Grey was momentarily frightened.

‘Did she find out?’

Did the Princess see through my perfect acting with her extraordinary mind! Or did the Minotaur God give her a hint?

Worry about his identity being discovered, and joy and relief that he wouldn’t have to be scolded by Countess Randy anymore simultaneously took over Grey’s small head.

“Countess Nex, please spare some time as well.”

The Princess also called for Countess Nex who was resting in another capsule. Grey let out a sigh of relief.

‘Phew. She didn’t find out. My acting is indeed perfect. As long as Will and Mark don’t make foolish mistakes, I should be able to hide my identity until the rescue team arrives.’

Since she summoned Countess Nex too, it must be magic-related business. Grey followed the Princess to a suitable clearing along with the middle-aged mage with stomach problems.

As Grey expected, the Princess asked a magic question.

“How should one fix being swayed by imagery?”

‘Ho, look at this.’

Grey inwardly welcomed the Princess’s question. When he warned her at the marble quarry, she didn’t seem to take it seriously, but apparently she had been thinking about it.

‘Right. That’s how it should be. If you know you’re lacking, you should fill the gaps and fix them.’

“You’re talking about lightning magic, right? Try casting it.”

“Lightning? Oh, by any chance is it 5th tier lightning magic? When did Serena learn magic up to 5th tier? You must have been studying magic alone all this time! You should have called for me even though I’m inadequate… Don’t tell me you didn’t call me because you found me unreliable? Of course, I don’t know much about combat magic but. Ugh, my stomach…”

The incompetent mage who had failed in his duty despite having excellent material, using the student’s family circumstances and status as excuses, clutched his solar plexus with a pale complexion.

She wanted to ignore him, but Countess Nex was a sickly woman. Grey supported Countess Nex out of gentlemanly duty. It was a bit scary supporting her since she was all bones with no flesh.

“What I desire is.”

‘The speed is fine too.’

Clean mana manipulation and decent casting speed. Grey smiled with satisfaction as he waited for the powerful lightning to fall on the clearing.

“…lightning that will!”

The Princess completed her incantation. The spell was a bit longer than usual, which was concerning, but it was 5th tier magic so it was worth waiting for.

But no matter how long Grey waited, what lightning fell on the clearing. Not even a spark of static electricity occurred.

“Did you cancel the magic?”

Did she cancel the well-formed magic at the last moment? To Grey’s question, the Princess maintained her seemingly cold expressionless face and answered.

“The magic doesn’t cast.”

“What? What did you say?”

“Lightning magic doesn’t cast without sky.”

Grey frowned, wondering if the Princess was joking.

“You need to say something that makes sense. If you can’t use magic because there’s no sky, then you can’t use all other magic either?”

The magic was just named lightning, but the caster could freely designate where the lightning was generated.

Of course, there were those who couldn’t designate it, but Grey didn’t count such incompetents as mages.

You fool! How dare you mock this old man with such nonsensical words!

He desperately wanted to shout with all his might and give her a sharp rap on the head with his staff.

But seeing the Princess’s face harden even more than before, he changed his mind.

“Really? You can’t do it without sky?”

The Princess nodded with a coldly hardened face.

Grey pressed his shoulders and neck with his staff. His young body had no tense muscles, so it didn’t hurt even when pressed with the staff.

“You can just change the lightning generation position.”

“No. There must be sky.”

“What kind of lightning imagery does the Princess have? Please explain.”

“Grey.”

Countess Nex called the child’s name quietly but reproachfully. Grey ignored her. The Princess opened her mouth while staring into space with somewhat empty eyes.

“To me, lightning is destruction that ends the world and life. The sky is dark with low storm clouds, and thunder sounds continuously, shaking the air and ground. Lightning illuminates the dark world where the sun is hidden by clouds.”

A sneer formed at the corner of the Princess’s mouth, who had been expressionless since coming out of the capsule.

“Lightning falls from the sky and ends everything.”

‘How eerie.’

Grey clicked his tongue inwardly. Even though the Princess had failed to cast lightning magic, it seemed as if lightning struck to illuminate her face and thunder roared loudly around them.

Between the thunder sounds, he heard hallucinations of human screams and a child crying.

The final moments of Crown Princess Melang that he had only read about in reports. Grey felt as if he had witnessed that scene.

‘This isn’t imagery. It’s a nightmare.’

Grey knew several similar cases.

A mage who was severely hurt by fire-using monsters had their fire magic suddenly weaken or strengthen, and a mage who barely survived an earthquake had their earth attribute magic become absurdly destructive.

It wasn’t good news when magic became stronger. Among the mages who showed such changes, some regained their original magic over time, but some never did.

And the fate of mages who couldn’t regain their original imagery was always the same.

‘They were devoured.’

How could the fire of someone who only knew hearth and fireplace fires be the same as someone who witnessed a burned house and family corpses?

The important thing was not being swayed by nightmares and building imagery through one’s own free imagination rather than experience.

Until then, magic influenced by bad imagery had to be sealed.

“It’s fortunate that Your Highness has become aware of the problem. Please don’t use lightning from now on.”

“Is there no way to fix it?”

“You can generate electric arrows near your shoulder and shoot them well, but lightning must fall from the sky – that’s because of imagery. Once you can skillfully use electric arrows, let’s try changing the lightning generation point while improving electric explosion proficiency. We’ll also learn electric chain while we’re at it.”

Grey intentionally approached from the magic theory side rather than emotions.

Whether it was the right approach, the Princess’s hardened face relaxed slightly.

Grey sighed inwardly while tapping his shoulder with his staff. It wasn’t tense, but it was a habit he couldn’t help.

‘I need to gather mana quickly.’

Nightmares could be covered with greater imagery. If he showed her a thunderstorm that shook heaven and earth, wouldn’t the nightmare disappear completely?

It worked out well that Countess Nex specialized in magic circles. If he asked for a mana concentration magic circle, he could gather mana faster.

Solo action was prohibited, but it was the 1st Floor which he had perfectly conquered, so it should be fine. Grey was about to leave Countess Nex, who knew the detailed circumstances, beside the Princess and return to the lobby when the Princess called him again.

“Grey. I have one more question.”

“What is it?”

“How should we catch the Minotaur that summons monsters?”

And so the past story ended, returning to the beginning of episode 209.

“Argh! It was going so well!”

The distribution of stamina and mana was appropriate, and following Grey’s advice, she combined oil generation and water generation with fire and lightning magic to easily defeat the continuously summoned monster hordes.

This time I’ll clear it! She was confident, but got careless and died after being hit by an arrow with eyes.

Even though she was afflicted with a status ailment that made her feet heavy due to the Minotaur’s fear, it was an embarrassingly shameful result.

The past four times, she had all slept in her friend’s embrace. But the current Serena didn’t deserve to sleep in Heuji Jeolmi’s arms.

Serena cooled her anger alone in the capsule and repeated self-reflection before finally coming out of the capsule.

She was so frustrated that sleep wouldn’t come.

The lobby where the eternal campfire gently illuminated the central area. Ralph, who had stepped away from the 1st group raid team and volunteered for night watch duty today, sat in front of the campfire.

Maybe it was just her mood, but the young knight’s back looked lonely. Serena considered comforting Ralph but backed away, thinking she had her own problems to worry about.

‘If only I could properly use lightning strike.’

She could incapacitate the 35th floor boss in one hit and prevent the subsequent minion summoning.

Compared to her pathetic and powerless self, Ralph was trying to generate stars through his own power and others’ help.

As Serena was about to drink some water and return to her capsule, she heard a small sound.

“Cough.”

It was Neet’s coughing sound. Serena looked toward the tomb where she had laid mana absorption tiles for Neet. The area behind the tomb was bright, as if Neet was creating orbs of light to make decorative knots.

‘I should tell her to sleep.’

Decorative knots made all night by a sick child with torn fingernails and tattered hands. Serena’s portion was especially elaborate and splendid.

‘I should tell her not to worry about others.’

How about telling Neet to relax since there’s a princess here who can’t even use magic because she’s swayed by emotions?

Serena quietly approached Neet. Instead of Duri, who had to participate in raids and sleep with the other sisters, Neet was diligently moving her bandaged hands with bear fur beside her.

“Neet.”

“Cough. Princess. Was it too bright? I’ll turn it off right away.”

Neet was startled and tried to hide the decorative knots and extinguish the orb of light. Serena waved her hand and stood at the boundary of the mana absorption tiles.

“I just came out for a brief night walk. How is your body?”

“Yes. When I’m on the tiles the Labyrinth God gave us, it’s comfortable to breathe and feels good.”

“Isn’t it scary being behind the tomb?”

“That’s okay too. Because I’m not alone. Cough.”

Neet looked around and smiled brightly. Looking around, the tomb was the first thing visible, but she really didn’t seem scared.

A silence befitting the night lingered.

She was originally not good with children, but thinking that Neet would remember every conversation made it even harder to speak.

Serena pretended not to see the decorative knots sticking out behind Neet’s small body and brought up magic.

“Since the Labyrinth God has bestowed grace upon you, don’t be too obsessed with learning magic.”

Instead of being happy, Neet looked upset.

“Have I become useless?”

“That’s not it. We’ll continue the magic lessons. I meant don’t feel too much pressure.”

“Sniffle. But. Cough. We used a lot of aroma candles because of me, and a lot of offerings too. But I still haven’t learned ignition magic.”

They had almost consumed all the aroma candles that Lavenda had brought and used carefully.

Since mana herbs occasionally appeared in the herb garden and could sometimes be bought from vending machines, Serena wasn’t too worried, but Neet seemed to have been anxious every time the candles decreased.

“Not just ignition. Cough. I haven’t learned any other 1st circle magic either. Princess, Grey, and Countess Nex all helped me, but it’s all my fault. Cough.”

Tears welled up in Neet’s eyes as she spoke.

“Sniff. You gave me such an undeserved opportunity. But I’m too lacking. Sob.”

“Neet. That’s not it. Learning orb of light at your age shows excellent talent. You have talent. I know it.”

Serena had previously seen through Hana and Sesi’s talents. So she thought Neet would believe and feel relieved, but Neet dropped tears like chicken droppings.

“But. Sniff. I won’t become the mage you want, Princess. I only learned strange magic.”

“Strange magic? Magic is the mysterious wisdom the God of Magic gave us. There’s no such thing as strange magic in this world. Any magic is useful, wait a minute.”

Serena awkwardly reached out to pat Neet’s shoulder, then doubted her own ears.

‘You learned strange magic?’

Serena made the child, who was crying more sadly because she wanted to be hugged but didn’t dare lean on the princess, lift her head.

“Neet. Did you perhaps learn other magic?”

Neet couldn’t look directly at the princess and shed tears like chicken droppings.

“Sob sob. I did wrong. I tried to learn the magic Grey taught me, but the God of Magic taught me different magic. Cough. I didn’t do it on purpose, Princess. I did wrong.”

Here’s some easy-to-understand magic knowledge. The God of Magic teaches magic of a specific attribute when there’s a mage with exceptionally outstanding talent in that attribute.

If the God of Magic forced magic learning, you could be confident they’d achieve greatness in that attribute and throw a neighborhood celebration.

“Neet! You should have told me! Why didn’t you say anything!”

“I’m sorry! I committed a mortal sin! Please only punish me and don’t punish my sisters! Cough!”

Neet knelt on the ground and begged with both hands.

“I really wanted to learn other magic, but the God of Magic said I had to learn different magic and wouldn’t teach me! Waaah!”

‘Aaaaagh! Why didn’t you tell me! This isn’t something to be scolded for but praised!’

Serena, who was screaming internally, soon realized.

‘I see! You didn’t know!’

The educated class. So-called learned people would know this common knowledge even if they weren’t mages.

But Neet and the Number Siblings had lived lives far from learning.

At the very least, if they had settled in a common village, they might have picked up such knowledge from wandering priests or village chiefs, but they never had the chance because they kept wandering.

They could have known by reading just one basic magic theory book, but there were no magic books in the labyrinth. Grey thought learning magic was more important than common knowledge, so he only conducted focused tutoring.

What good is it if a student memorizes everything they see and hear when the teacher doesn’t tell the student the truly necessary information?

‘I’m sorry for being an inadequate adult!’

Serena repented and regretted internally, then summoned her fellow inadequate adult who should also repent.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————