Chapter 279: Losing Fire Magic

"Ah, right. I almost forgot about that."

There was a limit to how much magical energy a recovery potion could restore.

The potion Shangguan Wan’er had given him was probably one of the more expensive, high quality ones available on the market. Even so, perhaps because Qiu Nuoya’s original magical reserves were so enormous, it had only restored about thirty percent of his energy after the egg had drained him until he was almost completely empty.

He would probably recover after a good night’s sleep, but having so much of his magical energy drained was exhausting. He rarely experienced anything like this.

Come to think of it, even during the battle with the Imoogi, he had left most of the fighting to Mochi. He had hardly needed to use much of his own magical energy at all.

Qiu Nuoya found himself reconsidering things.

Was this really acceptable for someone who was supposed to be a mage?

Taming monsters was also a profession in which a tamer communicated with monsters and used their own magical energy to bring them under their control. However, it was actually possible to do the job without having particularly large reserves of magical energy.

In this world, people with abundant magical energy would normally pursue a career as mages rather than become tamers.

Those who became tamers generally did so to compensate for their own lack of combat ability by controlling monsters. Of course, they also needed the aptitude to communicate with monsters and establish a bond with them.

But a tamer who possessed an extraordinary amount of magical energy while also having the potential to be an exceptional mage, like Qiu Nuoya, was probably exceedingly rare.

He had grown complacent because of his enormous magical reserves and neglected to prepare properly for situations like this.

Perhaps he should be grateful that his first experience of running out of magical energy had happened under these circumstances rather than in the middle of a battle.

From now on, he would have to make sure to keep a good supply of high quality magical recovery potions on hand.

"Still, I was surprised to hear that Lady Sherria would be joining the expedition to defeat the Demon King. I suppose they need another healer now that Shangguan Wan’er has lost her Saintess’s powers, but..."

At Igor’s words, Qiu Nuoya sat up and nodded.

"Yeah, that’s true."

The discussion that followed the debate over Long’s egg had been about the formation for the expedition to defeat the Demon King.

They had originally planned to participate alongside the royal army, but with Shangguan Wan’er, one of their main members, no longer able to fill her role, they needed to decide who would take her place.

That was when Lady Sherria, who happened to be present, volunteered.

Qiu Nuoya had no idea why Lady Sherria had been there in the first place. Everyone present had been astonished when she offered to join them, especially since she was supposed to be responsible for protecting the royal capital.

However, Lady Sherria had simply smiled and asked, "Is there any other Saintess who could take Lady Shangguan Wan’er’s place?"

"Since it was her own earnest request, we couldn’t very well refuse. After all, Lady Sherria was this country’s foremost Saintess before Shangguan Wan’er appeared. It would be presumptuous of us to reject an offer from someone of her standing."

"Even so, am I the only one who thought the prince acted strangely when he heard the news? He’s always smiling and agreeing with everything Shangguan Wan’er does, constantly proclaiming that she’s his fiancée. Yet he looked unusually serious this time..."

"Prince Lucien was also the one who continued to oppose Lady Sherria joining the expedition, albeit rather tactfully."

Hmm... Now that they mentioned it, something did seem strange.

If Prince Lucien was going to look troubled about something, surely it should have been over Shangguan Wan’er, his current fiancée, rather than Lady Sherria, his former fiancée.

Yet he had always been so hands off with Shangguan Wan’er that he had never shown even the slightest sign of concern over her actions.

Could it be that he was suddenly having second thoughts about his former fiancée? Perhaps he had begun to regret seeing Lady Sherria become independent and develop a mind of her own.

Considering how the prince always spoke of Shangguan Wan’er as the ideal woman, Qiu Nuoya couldn’t rule out the possibility that he now preferred the more assertive Lady Sherria, who was willing to step forward and take action, over the old version of her who had always followed three steps behind him.

Well, if that really was the case, it was a little too late for that.

The prince himself had declared the end of his engagement to Lady Sherria. Turning around and changing his mind now would be awfully convenient for him. And after being betrayed once, Lady Sherria certainly wouldn’t feel good about it either.

"Well, whatever happens, I just hope everything goes smoothly."

Qiu Nuoya flopped back onto his bed and stared up at the ceiling.

"By the way, Nuoya, earlier you mentioned that your Fire Magic Skill had disappeared. Is that... well, are you going to be all right?"

"Ah... Now that you mention it."

When Qiu Nuoya had touched Long’s egg, it had drained not only his magical energy but also one of his skills. He certainly hadn’t expected anything like that to happen.

"Does this mean I can’t use Fire Magic anymore?"

Qiu Nuoya sat up again and tried imagining a Fireball hovering above his palm, just as he usually did.

For the record, he wasn’t going to throw it. That would be dangerous.

A small flame flickered to life above his palm. However, before it could take the shape of a proper fireball, it lost its form and vanished.

"I can make a flame, but I guess that’s not enough..."

"Can you still use magic of the other elements?"

"Hmm..."

This time, Qiu Nuoya imagined a Water Ball above his palm.