Prince Alex focused mana on the magitech Orb, and Dominic saw the item begin to glow more brightly, and the red light began to shift toward a more burgundy shade.
"What is it that you’re doing?" He asked.
"Oh, right. Most people don’t see this often. It’s a bonus of being a Battle Mage. One of the techniques that we learn is how to put mana into our magitech Devices as if it were from a mana core.
It only works once per item, and as if we had given it a mana core of our level. But my Trade Skill Core is at level forty, and forty levels of mana cores into a level zero magitech item usually brings it to level four.
Sometimes level three if it’s inefficient." He explained.
Dominic sighed. That was not a trick that he had learned as a Blacksmith.
Prince Alex chuckled. "I wouldn’t worry too much about it. You’re not yet a Journeyman Blacksmith. Even if you could learn the technique, it is unlikely you could even get a core to level two with this technique."
Dominic shrugged, then realized a brilliant way to get information about some obscure questions he had.
"Well, I suppose I could just eat the mana cores instead and just cast the spell harder." He joked, and the two Royals paled.
"Don’t even joke about that. A berserk Dragonkin of your power would be a nightmare even for me. Plus, you have to be holding hundreds of levels worth of cores." Prince Alex insisted.
So, that was what happened if you ate Mana Cores to level up.
Alexis smirked at her older brother. "But wouldn’t it be a sight? A level two hundred berserk dragonkin? They would name a national holiday after the survivors."
Dominic hid his laughter behind his sleeve as he struggled to keep a straight face.
The Prince shook his head. "You two have been left unsupervised too long. You’re starting to think that your fantasy novel plots are a good idea in real life. Or is it a romance novel? I see that the beds in the other room are pushed together, little sister."
Dominic couldn’t remember when they did that. But they had been that way for at least the last week. Not that anything inappropriate happened, when they both slept clothed and ready for emergencies.
Alexis rolled her eyes at her brother. "I maintain my profession of undying love for literature."
The Prince raised one eyebrow. "That is not an answer to my question. But I will let it slide this time. Now, did you need to gather anything before we go? Knowing you, you never even unpacked."
Dominic and Alexis both looked away with innocent looks, and the Prince began to laugh.
"I was right. You were here over a month, and you didn’t even take your spare clothing out of your storage items, you just put the clean laundry back in."
"Give the guard half an hour to say goodbye to their new friends, and we can get going." Alexis insisted.
The guard at the door nodded, and a moment later Dominic heard footsteps headed down the stairs.
"The Marquis is getting the Regiment ready to leave. I brought reinforcements from the reserves, so he’s not going to be left undefended once we go. The King assumed that the casualties here were much higher than reported, and you just didn’t want to alarm him with the situation." The Prince explained.
He wasn’t wrong. The city guard and militia had lost well over half their numbers. But that was in the last few days of the battle, and the Palace might not have received the message yet.
The maid came in with food, and Dominic cleansed it out of habit.
"You know, people are going to start thinking you’re paranoid." Prince Alex noted.
"When we first arrived, infiltrators from Dagos tried to poison both of us with Dragonberries. I’ve done it ever since. Though, I suppose it wouldn’t help if they tried the same trick twice, since they’re not poison to me." Dominic replied.
"Yeah, purify doesn’t nullify all forms of magic on the food. That’s why the poison testers always have to be fully human. If they’re not, they might be immune to the poison used." The Prince agreed.
"Now, should we start heading downstairs? I am certain that the Marquis will want to send you off with some fanfare."
’Some Fanfare’ was a very mild description of what the Marquis had planned.
The entire City Guard was assembled down the elevated roadway to the eastern gates, and the Natural Sons’ Regiment was in their parade best, waiting for the Royals to arrive, so they could leave.
Their mechanical horses had remained unused and undamaged during the entire siege, but today they were polished to like new condition, with fresh drapery for the event.
It was magnificent, and Dominic could see that there were citizens lining all the rooftops along the route as well, ready to send off the city’s defenders.
Once they were in position at the front of the procession, with Dominic following the two Royals into a mechanized horse-drawn carriage, the City Guard and the reserve regiment that Prince Alex had brought began to play trumpets.
That was the signal to move, and the Princess opened the curtains so that they could see out and wave at the soldiers.
Many of them had seen the Princess on her many walks down the wall during the battle, but for most of them, this was their first chance to actually see her.
After all, you couldn’t tell much, but someone’s size when they were in full armour.
Dominic also had the curtain open, so he could keep himself aware of the situation around them. But the looks he got were much less adoring, and more admiring of his accomplishments and magical power.
The Techno Wizards laughed and waved energetically as Dominic passed their position, and he had to try not to laugh. Most of the glory he was being given was their doing. But they were still happy for him.
Or perhaps happy that their device would be spread around the nation.
The metallic hooves on first stone, then wooden roadway was a steady drone as they approached the city gates, which were thrown wide open for their victorious departure.
It was a strange feeling, knowing that he was headed back to mundane days in the Palace Forge, and the post-war celebrations that would surely follow.
But not a bad feeling.