When Seasil awoke from his long slumber, the outside world was already bathed in light.
He furrowed his brow at the sunlight streaming through the window and realized his body felt utterly battered.
What on earth had happened? Holding his forehead, he began to recall yesterday's events.
He remembered entering the dungeon to conquer it.
Emerging outside and being provoked by Lucy Alrn.
Consumed by rage, he had charged at her, disregarding all sense of honor, fixated only on the thought of defeating Lucy Alrn.
Then he was mercilessly toyed with. Eventually, he had reached a state of mindlessness.
“Prince Seasil.”
At the sound of a voice from beside him, he turned to see an elderly gentleman.
He was the man who had ingrained the fundamentals of martial arts into Seasil since he was a child, and he was also involved in various unsavory dealings for the Bedfer Duke family.
“Nabil.”
Though he had many names, the gentleman known as Nabil placed his bowler hat over his chest and offered a polite greeting.
“What brings you here?”
“I was sent by Her Majesty the Queen. I have some words to convey.”
The moment Seasil saw Nabil's relaxed smile, he could roughly guess what he was about to say.
“Shall I tell you now?”
“Go ahead.”
As Seasil nodded, Nabil opened his mouth.
What emerged was not the polite voice of the elderly man that had filled the room just moments ago.
The sharp, almost tearing female voice was that of the Second Queen, Seasil's mother, whom he had heard every day since childhood.
“You foolish and dull prince. You’ve messed up again.”
Foolish and dull. Nabil had softened the words. The actual vocabulary was likely more severe.
“Not only did you fail to win the favor of Lady Alrn, but you also provoked her, resorted to dirty tricks, and ended up losing. How can you be so incompetent? It would be better to have a puppet in your place.”
Nabil continued to hurl criticisms at Seasil, just as he had done since his childhood.
As he listened quietly, Seasil noticed something strange. He felt oddly indifferent to the accusations being thrown at him.
While it was true that he was accustomed to such vitriol, his mother’s scorn typically etched sorrow and anger into his heart.
But today was different. His heart remained calm even amidst the insults.
“I was watching, wondering what foolishness you would engage in, but to see this as the result... all that remains is the fitting title of ‘Idiot Prince’ for you. Enough. You can stop now. Both you and your foolish followers, get your hands off it. I’ll handle it myself.”
Had my emotions disappeared?
No. Just think of how I felt when I heard Lucy Alrn's provocation last night. The fiery rage I felt was undeniably genuine.
Even now, the memory of that moment ignites heat within me; my emotions haven’t vanished. Then why?
...Could it be?
In comparison to her taunts, my mother’s mocking seems like nothing? Has my mind and heart made that judgment?
As such thoughts crossed Seasil’s mind, he couldn’t help but chuckle at the absurdity of it all.
“Do you understand? You prince who possesses no talent other than swinging a sword. Quietly sharpen your sword. That’s all you’re good for.”
With that remark, Nabil wrapped up his lecture, cleared his throat, and returned to his original tone.
“So, it is as it is. For now, focus on your training.”
“Got it.”
“Now, this is just my personal opinion, but it was quite impressive. You’ve succeeded in imbibing your magic with unique characteristics.”
There was no falsehood in Nabil’s words.
It was indeed true that Seasil possessed remarkable martial prowess, but infusing his magic with characteristics was an achievement beyond mere talent.
So much so that even the Second Queen, who only ever hurled insults, acknowledged Seasil's skills.
“What are you doing, then? You’ve lost.”
Seasil was well aware of the significance of the accomplishments he achieved in a state of mindlessness. He had lived his entire life as a martial artist; how could he not recognize the magnitude of this?
Yet, his lukewarm reaction stemmed from the fact that the victory came with the cost of his defeat.
Lucy Alrn—the one who inherited the blood of the hero Benedict Alrn—had risen to become a monster on the continent in just half a year. She effortlessly blocked Seasil’s miracle with her shield.
“That was merely because the opponent was inadequate.”
“Perhaps.”
Seasil understood. Had the opponent not been Lucy Alrn, he wouldn’t have been able to withstand that attack.
But so what? In the end, Seasil’s miracle had only served to highlight Lucy Alrn’s value as a gem.
“Nabil, I want to ask you something.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“If you were in perfect condition, could you have won against Lucy Alrn?”
Nabil paused for a moment before answering.
“I apologize. I did not witness the duel with my own eyes.”
“Right. That’s true.”
Seeing Nabil's look of guilt, Seasil responded lightly. He had already reached his own conclusion in his mind.
Even in perfect condition, I would have lost to Lucy Alrn. Even after achieving a miracle, how could my condition have mattered?
No. If I had been in better shape, perhaps that miracle would not have occurred at all, and I would have been toyed with until the end. I would have been trampled amidst mocking laughter.
...Haah. In the end, it was Lucy Alrn’s foul character that allowed me to gain this insight, but I couldn’t muster any feelings of gratitude.
I considered it a grace of being a martial artist, but recalling that arrogant smile only flared my anger.
“It wasn’t bad, was it? Damn girl.”
One day. I will surely make her cry.
As Seasil rose from the bed with complaints, he issued a summoning order to Nabil.
He needed to grasp the aura he had used last night to surpass Lucy Alrn.
With heavy steps, Seasil’s mind was already devoid of thoughts of the First Prince.
Shock Conversion is a passive skill regarded as essential for tanky front-line roles. Especially for a paladin like me, it was practically a necessity.
Fight on the front lines and take damage. > Divinity recovers. > Use that divinity to restore health. > Take damage again. > Divinity recovers...
That’s the routine I could establish.
Of course, this routine isn’t infinite. There are limits since the efficiency of Shock Conversion isn’t that great.
However, it was undoubtedly a fact that it significantly increases the sustainability of front-line fighters, so I had thought it would be a great help to me right now.
But reality was cruel.
After entering the dungeon outside the academy and moving around for quite some time to test the skill's performance, I found it lacking.
Divinity wasn’t failing to accumulate, but the amount was far too meager.
No matter how new the skill was and how low my proficiency, this was excessive. The efficiency was way below what I had known.
What was wrong? While pondering that, a thought suddenly crossed my mind.
Could it be? But I still need to confirm.
“Are you scared of a girl?♡ Why not grovel on the ground and beg to be treated like livestock?♡ Oh, I wonder if there’s a place that takes in disgusting cowardly orcs?♡”
Inviting an orc to assist with my experiment through provocation, I lowered my shield and took the punch he swung at my face.
The thud! echoed, and I felt my divinity replenish. Despite the difference in specs between the orc and me, the pain wasn’t that intense.
Ah.
Damn it.
So that means in reality, Shock Conversion only applies to physical impacts on the body?
Blocking with a shield doesn’t count as taking damage?
In the game, it was different. In the game, shields were essentially a type of armor. If you didn’t perform a just parry, they would only reduce damage by a certain amount.
Thus, I would visibly lose HP, and in turn, Shock Conversion would trigger.
But reality is different.
If I block a sword with a shield, the bodily damage is minimal. There might be a slight jolt, but that’s it.
The same goes for other attacks. As long as the attack doesn’t hit my body, the damage transmitted to me is negligible. Thus, the recovery amount is also minimal.
To summarize, unless the defense is broken, Shock Conversion loses its significance?
What kind of crazy talk is this! If my defense is breached, it means my life is in danger! What does Shock Conversion mean in a situation where I could die in a single hit?!
...Haah. I see. No wonder I thought that the lousy deity would grant me a great skill for defeating someone like the Second Prince.
I thought he made a mistake in adjusting the rewards based on the difficulty of the task, but that wasn’t the case. He gave me something worth giving.
Damn it. What I thought was an awesome skill turned out to be crap. I smashed the orc’s head with my mace in frustration.
Yet, that alone didn’t quell my fury. My anger couldn’t be resolved with just one orc.
To the orcs in this dungeon, if you’re going to blame anyone, blame that lousy, petty deity. If he hadn’t instilled such expectations in me, there wouldn’t have been a massacre!
Perhaps due to clearing the dungeon so easily, the rewards given after this trial were rather underwhelming.
My health, strength, and wisdom had only increased slightly.
The source of this c𝓸ntent is freewebnøvel.coɱ.
While the increase in health and strength was acceptable, an increase in wisdom seemed to have ulterior motives, no matter how I thought about it.
This is just a joke. It’s as if they realized they had fooled me. It feels like they’re playing a prank on me!
Damn that lousy deity! Don’t pull these stunts on your subordinates! Maintain your dignity!
As I internally vented my frustrations toward the lousy deity and returned to the academy streets, I immediately set my course for the dormitory.
I was planning to continue testing the effects of Shock Conversion in practice mode with Grandpa.
However, my objective was thwarted. While walking down the street, one of Alsetin’s subordinates, waiting in the middle of the plaza, approached me.
He brushed past me and slipped a piece of paper into my hand.
It was a note from Karia.
‘Employer! Your popularity has been exceptionally high lately, and it has only risen due to this incident!’
Popularity has increased?
Is that true?
For some reason, the academy students run away when they see me, terrified.
Flipping it around, is it possible that it appears as if my stock is rising as a joke?
‘So it seems that someone from the Second Queen’s side wants to meet with Lady Alrn. Come to the shop later when you have time.’
...Oh.
Already?