Black smoke gushed from her palm, engulfing everything around her in an instant.
“Wow! I did it!”
The spell looked useful for making a smoke screen, throwing everything around her into darkness. And not just that, she could make the mist hot or cold. It was sure to come in handy.
Her first attempt at dark mist dissipated in just a few seconds, but with repeated practice, she’d be able to cast with greater power and control.
“Why’s this forbidden magic?” What does forbidden even mean in the first place?
Although Goddess Eye told her this was “dark forbidden magic,” nothing about it looked unusual.
Mil knew of five elements that magic could belong to: fire, ice, lightning, earth, and wind. It was possible to create various effects through specialized use of these elements or their combinations, and some mages could even create original spells that way.
This was some kind of forbidden magic that didn’t belong to any of the standard elements. Though its forbidden status might have simply come from its association with demonkin. In any case, Mil wasn’t too worried about any of that.
“As long as I can use it, that’s all that matters! Next!”
After the mist had completely vanished, Mil set upon the next spell book. She’d already decided that whatever problems forbidden magic might cause, she’d deal with them if and when they happened.
Mil went on studying one book after another with Goddess Insight. Two hours later she’d learned a wide array of spells.
With raise undead she had necromancy under her belt. Mind break would cause an opponent intense psychological distress. Poison mist could release a vast cloud of potent poison. And that was just some of what she’d learned.
“No fire? No ice? No ordinary magic at all?” It was all magic exclusive to demonkin. “Well I guess this is the Demon King’s Castle...”
Naturally, these weren’t going to be standard adventurer spells, but magic was magic. Anything she learned was bound to be useful while adventuring regardless, and she still had time to learn more.
Focusing on nothing but leveling would get boring, so she figured mastering a few forbidden magic spells would be good preparation for her escape.
Mil pumped her fist. “I’m gonna keep learning more.”
There were many types of books here, so finding the ones that contained spells took some effort.
“Oh! This might be good! This looks fun to learn too!”
Like a patron at a buffet, Mil picked out several books that were to her liking and carried them over to the table.
Among many others, she learned:
Life drain—a spell for stealing a foe’s lifeforce.
Overload—a spell that amplified the caster’s damage output for just a short time.
Blast end—a spell for making localized explosions.
They all sounded like demonkin spells, but they’d be useful for an adventure nonetheless. Overload, for instance, might be good for moving boulders out of her path. Or blast end might be useful if she had to fight a dangerous monster.
She still hadn’t found any regular spells. At the very least, none of the adventurers she’d met in the royal capital knew them.
Among the non-spell books were some that described the land around the Demon King’s Castle and dangerous monsters known to attack demonkin. Information like that could be valuable once Mil was outside the castle. Since Goddess Insight couldn’t help Mil learn anything that wasn’t a skill, she’d have to slowly read through each book. But she had plenty of time, so she decided to read them all.
While looking for books with useful information, she happened across something interesting.
Forbidden Magic Spell Book: Extinction Gate
Required Stats: 1000 INT
“Ooh!”
She’d found a spell that even she couldn’t understand despite her high intelligence stat. She checked the description right away.
Extinction Gate: Mass elimination magic. Creates a localized gate to another world that eliminates everything within its confines. Cannot be blocked using barrier magic of any kind.
“Sounds powerful!”
Mil had no idea what elimination magic entailed, but a spell this high-level had to be one of the best in the whole library.
“I’d try learning it, but...”
She’d never seen anything that demanded 1000 intelligence. Even at level 65, her own intelligence wasn’t close. Nor was it going to increase much by fighting orcs now that she was close to their level.
“Hmm. I want Ragnarok, but I want this too.”
The sword demanded 850 strength while the spell demanded 1000 intelligence. Mil wanted to learn everything she could, but getting her stats that high was going to take a while.
I wanna get out of this boring castle and go adventuring already. Grinding levels to learn this spell would take forever. But I wanna learn all the forbidden magic! If only I could fight stronger demonkin...
I’d try fighting the Demon King, but I haven’t seen him since my first day here, and no one knows where he is.
“Oh!” Mil suddenly remembered that the Demon King wasn’t the only powerful demonkin she’d seen.
✧✧✧
“My...younger brother?”
When she returned to her room that night, Mil called for her attendant, Crowell, and asked her about Graun.
“That’s right. I’d like to take on a strong demonkin.”
The first demonkin she’d examined with Goddess Eye had been a demon by the name of Graun Newman. He’d been almost twice Mil’s current level, so fighting him was bound to prove fruitful.
“Take on?”
“Thing is, I wanna get a little stronger to kill some time.” Mil opted not to mention her plan to escape the castle.
Mil figured Crowell would know where to find Graun since she was his sister. But unfortunately...
“Sorry, but my brother serves as His Majesty’s attendant. He won’t return before His Majesty.”
“Oh, okay... Do you know when they’ll be back?”
“I’m afraid not. His Majesty is difficult to predict. He might not return to the castle for another month.”
“A whole month?! But I don’t know any other way to get stronger... Is there anyone else? Someone stronger than Graun maybe?”
“Well...” Crowell put her hand to her chin. “I suspect Princess Mary is Graun’s equal...”
Mil recognized the name and soon remembered that she was the Demon King’s daughter—the one the lizardman had been looking for in the armory.
“You mean the Demon King’s daughter?”
“You’ve met her?”
“No, but I heard her name from one of the castle’s lizardmen. Is she strong?”
Now Mil really wanted to see her. She wondered what kind of girl she was.
“She’s certainly stronger than the castle’s soldiers, if that’s what you’re hoping for. If you want someone even stronger, I believe the Heavenly Four—the Demon King’s henchmen—are even stronger than my brother.”
“Heavenly Four?” Mil had never heard of them.
“Yes, but once again, they return to the castle only when they desire. As for Princess Mary, I suspect you’ll find she’s too busy to spend time with you.”
“Oh, okay...”
It sounded like there weren’t many strong people in the Demon King’s Castle after all, at least not when the Demon King and his Heavenly Four weren’t around.
Reaching 850 strength would be tough, but 1000 intelligence looked near impossible. Mil sighed. Maybe I’d better give up on that spell.
“If you’d like, I could assist you.”
“Huh? You, Crowell?”
“Yes. I’ve learned a few things while undergoing extensive training alongside my brother. I could certainly teach you some demonic swordplay.”
“Do you mean it?!”
“If that’s what you wish.” Crowell bowed.
It was just what Mil needed. While battle practice with the orcs had been useful, there’d been no mention of schools of swordplay—everyone just used their swords in their own way. Learning proper form could be useful for the fights during her upcoming adventure.
“Are you sure it’s okay to teach demonkin techniques to a human like me?”
“My orders from His Majesty were, ‘Offer Princess Mil your assistance if she’s ever in need.’ I’m merely following that order.”
Though Crowell sounded indifferent, Mil felt warmth in her words. She certainly didn’t sound like she was compelled to help because of orders.