Chapter 260: Dragon Girl!
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"I see, so that's why you came looking for me."
After listening to Stella's explanation, Luke first exclaimed in sudden realization, and then silently continued eating his food.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
Anger!
"Hey! Say something!"
The boy's behavior instantly ignited the girl's anger.
However, seeing that she was about to get angry, Luke asked her a question.
"Stella, do you think you're strong?"
"Eh?"
His question stunned the red-haired princess.
Was Stella strong?
Strong, of course she was strong, and not just ordinary strong either.
'Magic' is a special power that exists in this world.
The power known as 'magic' exists in many worlds, just like the dungeon world Luke had previously experienced, where adventurers similarly used magic.
But even if the name for 'magic' across different worlds is the same, its nature is not necessarily identical.
In the world of Chivalry of a Failed Knight, a person's mana capacity cannot be increased through effort or training.
In this world, the amount of magic/mana is the innate weight of a person's fate.
The reason a person can become a Blazer is because they possess magic/mana; this is already determined the moment a person is born.
And Stella Vermillion, who possesses the greatest magic capacity in the world, was meant to be 'strong' from the very moment she was born.
Stella was also very aware of her extraordinary strength.
It was not that she didn't put in effort, but the very fact that one could become stronger through effort was itself a manifestation of talent.
Therefore, Stella could say to others without any hesitation: "I am strong!"
"But... I am still not strong enough!"
This was her answer to Luke.
As royalty, Stella had understood the vastness of the world since childhood.
After meeting Luke and Ikki, she came to a profound understanding of the saying there is always someone better than you, and at the same time, deeply experienced her own 'weakness'.
Stella's will was extremely resolute. After witnessing all this, she wasn't discouraged in the slightest, but instead steadfastly embarked on the path to become stronger.
Everything she did perfectly aligned with what a 'strong' powerhouse should do.
However, Luke was not very satisfied with her answer.
"Not strong enough, huh..."
Sighing slightly, Luke put down his utensils and stared at the girl's face, carefully observing her for a moment.
Luke's understanding of this world was limited; he did not know how the future Stella would become stronger.
But through their time together, as well as the sense of incongruity Stella displayed during training and combat, he had roughly guessed something.
In this world, there was probably no one who understood the monster residing inside Stella's body better than he did.
After all, Luke had seen it with his own eyes, inside the dungeon of the previous world.
He had seen the existence known as a 'Giant Dragon'!
That's right, Stella's ability wasn't 'fire' at all.
She had misunderstood how to use her ability from the very beginning.
Blazers did not naturally know how to use their abilities from birth; they basically all suddenly discovered one day that they could manipulate gravity or emit flames.
Stella was just like this.
Suddenly discovering that she could freely generate and manipulate flames, she subconsciously assumed her ability was to manipulate flames.
But this was actually merely a part of her true ability.
According to his observations and judgments during this time, Stella's ability was definitely related to the dragon species, and it wasn't the kind of inferior dragon monster found in the dungeon.
But rather, the truly apocalyptic existence described in myths.
Making Stella stronger could be said to be extremely simple; Luke only needed to guide her into discovering her true power.
At that point, the mighty power dormant within the girl's body would be activated, and she would instantly obtain an ability matching her world-class amount of magic.
There was no need to say much; a single sentence—'Your ability is not fire'—would be completely sufficient.
However, Luke did not plan to do this.
"I do indeed have a way to make you stronger."
"You can obtain the power to catch up to or even surpass my current strength within a short period of time."
What Luke's words brought to Stella was no longer a pleasant surprise, but utter shock.
Actually, she didn't have any grand expectations. In her eyes, Luke simply pointing out her next direction of training would have been a pleasant enough surprise.
She had absolutely never even thought about surpassing Luke in a short amount of time.
But now, Luke was actually telling her that she 'could' do it?
Following the shock was disbelief.
The girl first looked at the boy with a suspicious gaze. Her immediate reaction after the shock was, 'Is he messing with me?'
However, when she saw the serious expression on the boy's face, her suspicion gradually transformed into ecstasy.
Almost instantly, Stella could no longer hold back and asked:
"How do I..."
"However, I don't plan to tell you right now."
The girl had just started getting excited, but before she could even finish her sentence, she was interrupted by the boy.
His following sentence ruthlessly shattered all the fantasies in the girl's heart.
"..."
"..."
"...Wh-why."
Stella glared fiercely at Luke. It took her an immense amount of effort to barely suppress the chaotic emotions in her heart.
The emotional roller coaster of a sudden transition from weeping tears of joy to complete devastation nearly made the girl lose her breath and pass out from suffocation on the spot.
"The reason is very simple. The current you has no way to control that kind of power."
"Think about the price you paid when you were a child in order to control your flames."
"If you rashly tap into this power and fail to control it, it won't just simply result in you being severely injured and near death."
As mentioned before, the more powerful the strength, the more delicate the control it requires.
If such an apocalyptic power could not be perfectly mastered, it would simply 'destroy the world' with oneself included.
"Are you saying... my level of magic control isn't enough?"
Stella looked extremely surprised upon hearing this.
One must know that in order to control her terrifying amount of magic, she had developed exceptionally excellent magic control skills.
Her B-Rank evaluation in magic control was the best evidence of this. Looking across the entire Hagun Academy, or even all seven knight academies in the country...
...the people who could surpass her in magic control to reach A-Rank could be counted on one's fingers.
Stella did not have detailed information on other schools, but if it was just Hagun Academy, aside from Luke and Shizuku, she was sure she couldn't find a third person.
"If you want to master the power I mentioned, you need to raise your level of magic control to at least A-Rank."
"Otherwise, I cannot guarantee that you will be safe and sound."