"Skills are there to make certain techniques easier to do. It doesn't mean these techniques can't be used without the Skill." ~Noter

Twelve years ago. Yoshelle, 15 years old.

"We're not talented people, Yoshelle," Maxims, her father, said. "What we have are riches and hard work. While we do have one trait that Godkiller Bernadette seeks, we don't have the rest of her requirements."

Yoshelle felt dull. Though still a little on the border, she was technically old enough to have experienced how not special she was. She had met real geniuses, real talent. The feeling of jealousy and envy had constantly visited her.

Part of it was age. Some people she had met were a bit older than her, but a lot more talented. But what she felt bitter the most, and one that she had tried her hardest to hide, was when someone younger had shown more genius than her.

It felt unfair. Especially now that she only had three more years left in the academy. She was, indeed, the top of her batch. The numbers wouldn't lie about her aptitude. But her academy wasn't the only one in this world.

The envy and jealousy, didn't come without reason, however. The unfairness didn't blossom without logic. The inadequacy that she felt wasn't because she wanted to be better than those people. It was because she felt unworthy.

Because she didn't have the gifts, because she didn't have the genius, because she didn't have the talents, Godkiller Bernadette wouldn't even take a glance at her.

"Just think about it," Maxims continued, unaware of his daughter's plight. "If those people didn't get an audience from the Godkiller, what more can we do?"

"You said you can contact her, right?" Yoshelle asked, though she already knew the answer. Whenever the topic of the Godkiller came to their conversations, they had always only resulted in circles.

"Honey, you know I always try. In fact, I even pulled a few favors to see if she had responded to anyone at all. There's nothing. Godkiller Bernadette only appears whenever she wants to. Only she can contact others, not the other way around."

To her ears, it always sounded like a lie. It sounded like an excuse. But the next words that followed from her father's mouth were something she would latch on and never let go of.

"We have no choice but to prove ourselves worthy through our actions and hard work. If you try hard enough, Yoshelle, maybe she'll take a glance, heck, maybe she'll even send a message. That's the only thing we can do with our own capabilities. The rest, we'll have to pray for."

I don't even think she accepts prayers…

Yoshelle couldn't believe what she was doing. As the only person capable of creating a Time Slow Zone, she was able to create a dome that was about ten times larger than she would be able to create. And even after sustaining it for ten entire minutes, she hadn't felt the least bit fatigued. Normally, she could only keep up her largest Time Slow Zone for about a minute. Two in a good day.

Of course, she didn't give any of the credit to herself. Yoshelle was simply mesmerized by the fact that she was a medium for such an achievement.

It was all because of Shallies channeling her mana through the Chronoadept.

Their strategy relied heavily on Yoshelle successfully slowing down the lavashifter. The monster was mid transformation into an amalgamation of forms, unable to ascertain which one would suit it best in its current situation. One that it had never experienced before.

Both in front and back were thirty-one adventurers split on both sides, trading opportunities to fire different Spells and taunting the monster back and forth. In the middle were Yoshelle and Shallies.

Whenever the lavashifter chased one side, they would back away and the group in the opposite direction would send devastating blows to the monster. And because of the Slow Time Zone, it couldn't chase them quickly enough.

Frustrated, it resorted to firing volleys of lava in all directions. Again, within the zone, the adventurers successfully deflected them. Shallies even sent her own Shooting Stars to take care of the missed ones.

Yoshelle couldn't fathom the depth of mana reserves the Guiding Star had. Not to mention the ability to cast multiple Spells while channeling mana to sustain the Slow Time Zone Skill.

It was bordering on absurd.

So this is what a true genius looks like. She's not even stressed in the slightest.

"Focus on the Spell, Yoshelle," Shallies said, smiling slightly. "We can talk later."

She did as told. Slow Time Zone, for her, wasn't exactly a challenge to maintain, now that she had enough mana to keep it going. She could feel the difference, however. Mana that had undergone The Perpetual Method was more dense. And her Spell was consuming less of it, compared to her own mana.

Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

Or is it just because her mana's so packed that the Spell just needs a little at a time?

Regardless of how it functioned, Yoshelle was confident that they would be able to hold the monster until reinforcements arrived.

"It's getting agitated," Shallies commented, taking Yoshelle out of her thoughts. "It's going to try and burrow."

The Guild Princess understood the implications of that statement. After a while of fighting out of the ground, the lavashifter, which had taken the form of something between a shark and a dragon, had began to cool off. Its skin had started to solidify into stone, which would change both its resistances and weaknesses.

"Shatter it!" Yoshelle commanded, showing urgency in its voice. "Don't let it burrow!"

Immediately, everyone engaged the Boss Monster with a barrage of blunt Skills and Spells.

Cracks formed around the lavashifter's skin. Agitated, it leapt in the air, forming a spiral on its head in an attempt to drill through the ground. For such a large creature to do something with its entire weight behind it, the impact would be tremendous. Naturally, everyone cleared away. Some attempted to meet the downward force, but even slowed down, they couldn't stop it.

Until Yoshelle felt something move beside her. It was the feeling of something large moving fast and barely missing her by an inch. The wind that carried behind it almost toppling her over, if it wasn't for Shallies holding her arm.

The Guiding Star was the origin of that force. Yoshelle couldn't understand what it was. It wasn't some kind of Spell or Skill. It wasn't even mana pressure.

But the force shot quickly and collided with the upside-down lavashifter, turning it sideways and failing in its attempt. Almost immediately, everyone resumed their attacks.

"Come on, Yoshelle," Shallies said. "You know it's possible, so give it a try."

"Try…?"

The Guild Princess was still reeling from what she had just witnessed, that she was a step too late from what Shallies was implying. The realization hit her a little too abruptly.

"Simultaneous-Casting?"

Instead of the Multi-Cast Skill, which was an upgraded version of Twin-Cast, Simultaneous-Casting, or Simul-Cast, was a Skill that gave the ability to cast two or more different Spells at the same time. Yoshelle had heard rumors of Spellcaster Class holders that were able to do the same thing without needing the Skill in the first place.

There had been many theories about it, too. One said to invoke a Spell verbally, and think of the second as one would with silent-casting. Another said pushing a second Spell while maintaining one that was already in effect.

Yoshelle's situation placed her thoughts more towards the latter. And since having discovered the truth about The Perpetual Method, the ability to Simul-Cast without the Skill had been at the back of her mind. There were ways to mimic Twin-Casting and Multi-Casting without the actual Skill, so she had always been leaning towards the possibility of the theories being used in practice.

And now she was presented with the perfect opportunity.

"Imagine using a Spell in each hand," Shallies said, guiding her. "Think of them both at the same time."

Yoshelle knew which second Spell she wanted to cast. Twice, she tried casting it while maintaining her Slow Time Zone, and twice, it fizzled. On the third try, she almost lost concentration on her first Spell.

Meanwhile, the lavashifter had regained ground. It was almost a rock elemental, now with how much of its skin had hardened. It tried to dig a few times, but every time, either the guild members or Shallies would deny it.

It was only then that Yoshelle noticed that there were fewer people around. Even with their resistances, some had still sustained injuries in between her attempts and the monster's attempts. If the lavashifter managed to stand one more time, it would surely be able to dig. And if it did, all their hard work would be for nothing. It'd regain its lava-like skin and remove all the damage it had sustained.

"Don't panic," Shallies started, stirring Yoshelle yet again. "I'll make sure it won't dig, but if we lose more people, it might escape your zone. So you need to concentrate."

The people who were left had chipped away at the lavashifter. Trading blows, defending, attacking, they were doing everything they could. If only they hadn't lost too many people during the initial stages, they would've finished the monster off already.

As it was, Yoshelle and the others couldn't hold it off to wait for reinforcements. Sure, they could do just that and eventually defeat the monster, but she wanted her people's injuries to matter more than just delaying the lavashifter.

And more than that, Shallies' urging made Yoshelle want to prove herself. She wanted to show that hard work could mean something. She wanted to show that she was more than a Guild Princess, that she was more than just a large pile of bits.

She wanted to prove that she was more than a normal person.

"Frigid Blade!"

The moment Yoshelle invoked her Spell, she felt Shallies push more mana into her. From above, mana converged as the temperature all around them quickly dropped. The blade of ice became as large as the lavashifter. It had also taken the form of a full-fledged sword, rather than just the blade that she was used to casting.

Yoshelle had encountered this feeling many times before. She was like an artist struggling to paint her vision. It always felt like the angle was wrong, or the details were incorrect, or the subtle lines were the wrong thickness. It felt like the resulting image wasn't exactly what she had on her mind.

But this time, it was perfect. The sword of ice in her mind's eye, exactly sculpted down to the last detail, then enlarged to match the target.

Yoshelle leaned her staff forwards. The Frigid Blade shot through the air with a great boom, crashing down and piercing the lavashifter's head. With a flex of her mana, she made the sword explode. It erupted in countless shards, ripping the monster apart from the inside-out.

The lull that followed lasted a little too long. She didn't even feel her Slow Time Zone dissipating. It was only after Yoshelle felt Shallies' hand move away from her back did the end of their encounter feel like a reality.

"We did it," she said, gasping for air. She quickly felt heat all around her body, and there was a trail of smoke rising from her shoulders.

Shallies quickly passed a mana potion. "Even when I'm channeling my mana, you subconsciously used up all of yours. You'll pass out if you don't recover quickly."

Yoshelle didn't even hesitate. She downed the potion in one gulp. It was like an ocean falling on a desert. Her knees buckled and she let herself fall on her rear. She sprawled on the ground smiling and loving the feeling of her Mana Energy draining her continuously replenishing mana to recover her stamina.

Shallies sat beside her.

"Good job," she said.

"Thanks," Yoshelle replied, laughing. "I have no idea how to make this report without turning heads your way."

"Eh, it's fine. I intend to join the raid anyway. I need to protect my own home too, you know?"

"If you hadn't showed up, we might've literally been toast." Yoshelle managed to turn her head. "Thank you again."

"Your welcome." Shallies smiled. "Now, if you don't mind, I'll check if there's something in the lavashifter I can use for my recipes."

"Oh, go ahead. I'll just rest here until reinforcements arrive. No one's going to stop you."

"Awesome."

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.