Chapter 293: Grace Fronda

Chapter 293

Grace Fronda

"My name is “Grace” from the “Fronda family." We are a noble family with significant trade routes originating from the Rhea Kingdom. However, since the Rhea Kingdom was defeated by the Ares Kingdom, my father was summoned here to demonstrate his loyalty and continue serving the Ares Kingdom. As the second daughter, I accompanied him here. I have an older sister who will likely become engaged to one of the noblemen of Ares."

"Although, as the second daughter, I am not bound by such engagements, I was still ordered to reside in Ares with my father. I am currently a second-year student at the institute. Before this, I did not use magic power but trained beasts like others in my kingdom. My partner died in the recent war, so I came here alone."

"The Ares Institute has been very kind. They allowed me to drink a potion to awaken my magic powers and assessed my abilities to guide my studies properly. That was when they discovered the extent of my strength."

"Now, I am also a student at Ares Institute. If I were to return to Rhea, I wouldn’t receive the proper training in magic power. When it comes to combat with magic power, Ares is undoubtedly stronger. That’s why I am now a second-year student here."

"After I’ve become a second-year student, I was given the mission to come here. Firstly, it allowed me to join everyone on this mission seamlessly. Secondly, it helped me become accustomed to using my magic power."

The young girl explained with a smile, her almond-shaped eyes gazing at Ellie and then gave her a smile that made her eyes crinkle into crescent shape. This strange familiarity made Ellie clench her fists...She couldn’t be sure if this girl was the same person as her former close friend from her previous life, but she could sense that this girl was anything but ordinary!!

Who would have thought that Nara’s death would cause little impact on the other students? Instead, the arrival of Lady Grace from the Fronda family captured everyone’s attention.

"What are you thinking about?" Professor Medik furrowed his brows slightly when he noticed Ellie’s distracted state. Although her potion concocting was still impeccable, as a professor, he wanted her to be more focused.

"Just...thinking about Nara’s loss." Ellie couldn’t reveal her suspicions about Grace’s sudden appearance and its potential connection to a new plotline. Since Grace’s arrival, she had immediately captivated everyone’s interest. Dimensional power capable of creating dimensional rings? Such a future would certainly make her a significant figure in the kingdom. Even now...Professor Lucien seemed to be constantly around her. wasn’t he?

Seeing Lady Grace, Ellie felt like she was merely replacing Nara, who had vanished. Nara’s last moments, filled with intense suffering, still haunted her. It seemed Lady Grace truly had some secrets hidden away.

A person who recently awakened her magic powers through a potion but could still use that power to kill Nara and absorb the demonic toxin—such skill hardly required any learning at all. With such strength, she could immediately become a kingdom’s hunter.

Of course, Ellie couldn’t reveal this, so she used Nara’s death as a cover, which Professor Medik believed. He sighed, thinking that even though Ellie and Nara didn’t always get along, they had once been friends. Ellie must be feeling quite sad about it.

Medik gently touched the back of his student’s hand. He wasn’t good at comforting people and felt that saying anything might make things worse, so he chose to stay silent and sit beside Ellie, letting her process her thoughts.

He would allow this for just one day, giving her time to think and be with herself as much as she needed, but after that, they needed to focus on training. Otherwise, it would be a waste of practice time!

While the atmosphere between the professor and student duo remained quiet, the other side garnered significant attention. Even Wint hovered around Grace, excited about what he had learned. Perhaps it was because he had long desired a dimensional ring, which was quite rare. He would never receive one unless he befriended Lady Grace, who might create one for him in the future...

"So, you were the one who dealt with Nara?"

"You handled Nara, who was poisoned, without any harm, right? Does that mean if Ares encounters the demonic toxin again, it will be a mere joke?"

"This power is incredible. Not only can it deal with demonic beasts, but it can also create various dimensional spaces. So, in the future, we will have someone who can create dimensional rings in Ares?"

"This is an amazing power. No one in the kingdom could claim to be stronger than you. Perhaps even the eldest young lord from the Setter family only has power comparable to yours." Hearing this, Professor Lucien, who was examining Lady Grace’s power, shook his head with a rare, faint smile.

He was very interested in this student because her power was unprecedented. This challenge reignited his passion for studying magic power, which had been dulled by mundane matters. However, the students’ words were not entirely accurate.

Claiming that the eldest young lord’s magic power might be weaker was yet unproven. The fact that the eldest young lord could also handle demonic toxin was not widely known. Only Lucien, Medik, Wint, Ellie, and the Setter family knew about it. If not for this incident and Student Ellie revealing the weapon, Lucien himself wouldn’t have known. It seemed the Setter family wanted to keep this capability a secret.

He didn’t know if this was the right or wrong way of thinking, but revealing such power would undoubtedly put her in danger. If she merely had the ability to handle demonic toxin, she would soon be targeted and killed. However, the young lady was fortunate to possess a special power—dimensional magic power. In the Ares Kingdom, everything would be done to ensure her safety...Even if assassins were sent in droves, they wouldn’t be able to deal with her.

However, all of the above didn’t address the issue of training her power to the high level everyone expects. There’s a reason why magical devices were rare, especially those with spirits or dimensional properties. Such devices truly require human spirits.

Yes! Someone must sacrifice their spirit to embed it into the magic power. It’s no wonder that each level of spiritual weapon had a different personality. Moreover, maintaining high-level magical equipment like dimensional rings was complex. Lucien had previously examined this; it required more than just dimensional spell to create.

It’s true that Lady Grace could instantly use her own magic dimension because she was its owner. Accessing her own dimension wasn’t difficult for her. However, creating new dimensions accessible to other magic users required numerous special mechanisms and many magic users.

Therefore, encountering someone with dimensional magic power was an opportunity, but it didn’t mean creating such equipment was easy. If it were that simple...the tower would be filled with magical devices, dimensional rings, dimensional plots, and more. Even though they were once home to high-ranking races, such items were only found in ancient tombs, unless one was exceptionally lucky.

Although Lucien knew this, he didn’t dampen the students’ enthusiasm. In the future, the group close to this young lady’s age would help her enhance her strength. So, if she garnered a lot of attention, it would likely be beneficial.

"Professor Lucien, do you have any training methods for me?" Lady Grace asked when she saw Professor Lucien lost in thought.

She didn’t come off as arrogant, avoiding the resentment of other students. Neither did she distance herself too much from others. When she called for Professor Lucien, she did so humbly, making it easy for everyone to love her.

"I will see what I can do." Professor Lucien’s reply was practically an acceptance of her as his disciple. Therefore, the surrounding students excitedly dispersed.

If this new student were genuinely mentored by Professor Lucien, who knew how great her future would be? Having received a satisfactory response, Grace simply smiled gracefully in acknowledgment.

Her eyes were fixed on the small figure conversing with the beautiful professor, diligently practicing potion concocting in the distance. A small glimmer passed through them, but it vanished quickly.

She couldn’t shake the feeling of familiarity with the other girl’s gaze, but this wasn’t the world she once lived in. It seemed impossible that her "best friend" from that world could be here as well...

In truth, this "Grace Fronda" harbored a significant secret. Originally, she was from another world. After her best friend from their old school ended up in the hospital and passed away so suddenly, everyone gathered at the friend’s house to help with the final arrangements. Grace had been part of that group, even though she hadn’t wanted to get involved with her "former best friend" who had accidentally discovered her secret.

Fortunately, they didn’t attend the same university, so they went their separate ways. The deceased friend had not been one to talk much, so the secret Grace had kept was never spread. Because of this...despite her reluctance to confront the past mistake that had exposed her secret, she came to help one last time out of a sense of obligation.

While sorting through belongings, Grace stumbled upon a novel marked with a pen they had bought at the same time. She took the novel home and after a long time, she eventually had a chance to read it. And it was too late when she realized that she had made a mistake by touching the possessions of the deceased.

Who could have guessed there was a curse hidden within, pulling her into the novel’s world!...

The story’s plot had reached a point where the heroine was forced to leave her homeland because her kingdom lost a war. Her father and older sister had to take responsibility, with her older sister essentially becoming a hostage to ensure their compliance with the Ares Kingdom. The heroine herself was sent to the Ares Institute, where, fortunately, she awakened a special power—dimensional power. This made her a subject of great interest upon her arrival.

Just like now, Grace knew she would initially attract a lot of attention. However, as time passed and people realized they couldn’t help her improve her skills, their interest towards the heroine, who possessed the mysterious power, waned. Her life over the next 2 years at the institute would be filled with turmoil. The only saving grace was having Professor Lucien, one of the story’s heroes, as her mentor. He never gave up on her and helped her train in other forms of combat when her power failed.

The heroine was aided by all 4 heroes in the story. First was Professor Lucien, who helped with her power and training. The second was the guardian knight, Wint. Although he was initially the knight of the heroine’s "best friend," he ended up helping her a lot. Eventually, they secretly developed feelings for each other. Wint then requested to part ways with Ellie, the best friend, who didn’t object since matters of the heart couldn’t be controlled.

The third hero was "Young Lord Arman" from the prestigious Setter family. Since the heroine’s best friend would one day become the lady of the Setter family, causing this high-ranking young lord to take an interest in the heroine through his frequent visits, leading to more encounters.

And the last one who seemed to be the one anticipated was Prince Jason. Despite being betrothed to the villainess, Duchess Vida, Lady Grace’s remarkable abilities positioned her as his secondary consort. However, as time went on, Duchess Vida’s despicable actions to torment Lady Grace led Prince Jason to grow weary and annul the engagement.

This story was a pure romance where the heroine basked in her Mary Sue qualities, aided by these men. As long as she could win their affections, she would undoubtedly survive the next 2 years of hardship.

According to the story, after marrying Prince Jason, the heroine would discover a significant treasure in the royal treasury, an ancient spiritual weapon. This weapon would impart its knowledge to her, enabling her to use her powers correctly.

Grace knew that as the heroine, she was destined to receive all these advantages, albeit through great difficulty. However, this was an old-fashioned novel, always leaving plot points to resolve. At the end of the story...there was the last line stated, "The true beginning has only just started. Numerous variables could prevent Grace from reaching the pinnacle. A Bad Ending is always looming if the storyline diverges."

Thus, the author’s final words served as a warning for Grace to meticulously check everything. Given that the book belonged to her best friend, who once "accidentally" uncovered her secret, Grace had since lived cautiously, never taking risks.

She believed that following the storyline as closely as possible wouldn’t be too challenging. After all...getting Professor Lucien to accept her as a disciple hadn’t been difficult, and there was Wint’s gaze that kept looking at her like a big puppy. The only challenge was her "best friend," who seemed difficult to approach.

Grace wasn’t the type to be so self-confident and disregard socializing or keeping useful friends close. Just like before, she had befriended a dull person not only because they were out of touch with the world, but because being that person’s friend made her stand out more. Additionally...the friend was academically gifted, which meant Grace would be able to receive grades by doing nothing.

The principle of using others, especially "best friends," was something Grace applied in her daily life...