"Your Highness, do you feel anything unusual?"
Before explaining, Emmaline first asked Luke a question.
Luke shook his head without thinking too much. "No."
"All right." Emmaline nodded and said, "Based on what I can sense, I think I need to revise what I said just now."
Luke did not interrupt. He waited for Emmaline to continue.
Emmaline took a breath and went on. "Earlier, I said you were wielding these two demonic powers. From what I can see now, that is not the case. Strictly speaking, the true state between you and these two demonic powers can only be called coexistence."
"Coexistence?" Luke repeated softly.
"Yes." Emmaline nodded. "To put it simply, these two demonic powers are like parasites, parasitizing your body. Of course, they have no life of their own. That is only a comparison."
Luke more or less understood. "You mean my current state is not me unilaterally using these powers. At the same time, these powers are also gaining some kind of benefit from my body?"
"That is one way to understand it, but that is not exactly the case either."
Emmaline thought for a moment, then explained in detail. "After all, they are the core powers of demons, so they carry demonic traits by nature. That said, they were separated from the demons' original bodies, leaving only the power itself behind. That is why they are unconsciously exerting influence. All I can say is that while you use these powers, they are also affecting you."
Luke asked, "What kind of influence, specifically?"
"I am not sure what the specific influence is either. That is why I asked whether Your Highness felt anything unusual."
Emmaline shook her head, then asked, "Have you used these powers before?"
Luke answered honestly, "A few times."
"Then logically, they should have produced some influence." Emmaline also looked puzzled. "For some unknown reason, these two powers are still in a balanced phase."
Luke nodded slightly, his gaze flickering as he fell into thought.
Emmaline said then, "In the current state, every time you use the demonic powers, they will become more dependent on your body. If there must be some kind of effect, then I believe it would probably be 'assimilation.'"
Luke could not help asking, "By these two powers?"
"Yes. It is just a feeling I have." Emmaline's expression turned serious. "If you overuse demonic power, you will inevitably be affected by it."
"In the end, either you will be assimilated by these two demonic powers, shed your mortal body, and become a new kind of demon, or you will be consumed by these two powers, which would probably also turn you into a new kind of demon."
He had to admit, that was a little scary.
Either way, the final outcome was becoming a demon.
Luke's brows furrowed. He realized that this was not something he could take lightly. Although so far, he had not felt himself being affected by these two powers.
But from the looks of it, good things really did not fall from the sky for free.
After thinking it over, Luke asked, "Is there any way to solve it?"
"I know of roughly two methods." Emmaline thought for a moment and said, "The first, and simplest, is to directly extract these two powers from your body."
Luke looked at her. "Do you know how to extract them?"
Emmaline's face showed difficulty, and she shook her head apologetically. "I am sorry. These two demonic imprints are far too profound. With my current level, I cannot separate them from you."
Luke nodded. "What about the other method?"
At the very beginning, he had actually considered whether he should get rid of the demonic powers inside his body, but later he realized that even if he wanted to, finding a method would not be easy.
He had already asked Frey beforehand, and even Frey had no solution for something like this.
Just as Emmaline said, the two demonic imprints on his wrists were too high-level. They were not something ordinary people could handle.
There was also the simplest method of all, returning the demonic power to its original owner.
For example, finding the little black dog outside. Luke believed he would definitely have a way to easily take back his own power.
However, Luke was not crazy at the moment, so he probably would not do that.
That meant he could only hear out the second method first.
Emmaline said, "It is like what I mentioned just now, 'wielding.' In the end, these are merely two powers. At present, your state with them is coexistence. But as long as that state changes, and it becomes you wielding these two powers, just like demons themselves can freely wield their own power, then you will no longer be affected by demonic power. But likewise... I do not know the method for wielding them either."
Luke nodded again and fell into thought once more.
In other words, although he could freely use demonic power now, he had not truly mastered it.
Only by achieving true mastery could he avoid being influenced by demonic power.
And how to achieve true mastery was another problem.
Looking at it this way, neither of the two current methods could be achieved.
That made things difficult for Luke.
He thought of how Emmaline seemed surprised just now, unsure why he had not yet been affected by these two demonic powers.
Why was that?
Luke glanced at his skill list. It did not seem like any skill could do something like that.
Could it be Righteous Aura Protection?
Righteous aura was a pure breath of justice in this world, naturally as incompatible with demonic power as fire and water.
Maybe it was under its influence that the demonic power had not begun to spread.
Seeing Luke quietly deep in thought, Emmaline said, "My suggestion is that, for now, it would be best if you use these two demonic powers as little as possible. As long as you do not use them, they will basically remain in a state similar to 'sleep,' and their influence on your body will be at its weakest."
Luke gave a soft "Mm," then thought for a moment and asked, "In your opinion, if it really turned into the worst-case influence you just mentioned, roughly how long would that take?"
This was the issue he currently cared about most.
"Currently, your body has not been affected yet." Emmaline thought it over as well, then replied, "It depends on how frequently you use them. If the demonic powers remain in a dormant state, then I estimate the worst-case situation will not appear within a year or two. Of course, you can come to me occasionally to confirm this."
Hearing her say that, Luke felt a little more at ease.
A year or two, that was a problem for later.
He was someone who believed in enjoying the moment.
As long as he did not wake up tomorrow and discover he had turned into a demon, it was fine.
And with Emmaline around, he could indeed come over every once in a while to confirm things.
During that time, he could also search for a solution.
Emmaline had no method because she was still too young, and her understanding of imprints was not yet profound enough.
In that case, as long as he found a powerful mage, perhaps he could find a way to solve the problem.
After thinking for a moment, he still asked one more question. "Then what if there were only one kind of demonic power inside me?"
Emmaline replied, "If there were only one kind, then the influence would be even smaller. Your own body is already powerful, so you would not be easily affected by demonic power."
Hearing her say that, Luke felt even more reassured.
He had asked about everything he needed to. He stood up and thanked her. "Sorry to trouble you. Thank you."
Emmaline smiled. "You are welcome. If Your Highness needs help with anything else, please come find me again."
After that, Luke got up and left the room.
As he walked back toward the capital, he was still quietly thinking about the conversation from just now.
No matter what, he needed to start looking into both methods.
Although demonic power could give Luke a considerable boost, before he resolved its side effects, he would not use it again unless he was forced into a last-resort situation.
Still, aside from using it out of curiosity at the beginning, Luke normally would not touch the stuff lightly anyway.
After all, showing off once at the mage camp was one thing. But outside, in places crowded with all sorts of people, using demonic power recklessly was basically asking for trouble.
Overall, obtaining these two demonic powers was still more beneficial than harmful for the time being.
Next, it would depend on whether future check-ins could give him an item capable of solving this problem.
Although he had been startled at first, Luke was not that panicked afterward.
If it could not be solved in Demacia, then he would go somewhere else.
After all, with two years, he should be able to find a method eventually.
If he ran into the worst-case situation, then at worst, he could return the little black dog's power first. That would buy him even more time.
In any case, the little black dog was sealed there. Even if he recovered some of his power, he would still be unable to break through the seal.
Then, once Luke found a way to control demonic power, he could come back and stab him again.
After thinking about it carefully, this method really was feasible.
The little black dog had grown a little lately. As he walked ahead, he suddenly felt his back light up, and an ominous premonition surfaced in his heart.
He could not help turning around to look, only to meet Luke's dangerous gaze. His heart instantly skipped a beat.
In that second, the little black dog ran through every bad thing he had done recently. After confirming there were none, his heart was still a total mess of panic.
Had Luke found out about him sneaking into the kitchen to steal food?
The more he thought about it, the more possible it seemed, and the little black dog grew even more frightened.
Seeing the little black dog panicking beyond belief, Luke withdrew his gaze and temporarily dismissed the idea.
There was no need to do that yet.
The situation was not that urgent.
When Luke looked away, the little black dog's terror did not disappear. He remained in an extremely nervous state the whole way.
More than an hour later, Luke and the others finally returned home.
When they saw a carriage from House Laurent parked outside the courtyard gate, several of them paused slightly.
Then Lux's eyes lit up. "Miss Duelist must be back!"
After saying that, she quickened her pace and darted toward the courtyard.
Luke and the others followed into the living room, where they saw Fiora sitting there, smiling lightly as she chatted with Lux.
Luke said in surprise, "Why didn't you tell us in advance that you were coming back?"
Fiora chuckled. "I wanted to give everyone a surprise."
Luke guessed she was definitely still remembering what happened last time, and smiled. "It is indeed a bit of a surprise."
Fiora smiled, took a sip of tea, and asked, "It is just that I came back as soon as I could and did not run into you. Where did you all go?"
Since there were no outsiders, there was naturally no need to hide the mage camp from Fiora.
Besides, in truth, with Fiora's intelligence, she had long since noticed what was different about Lux and Sona.
She had simply never said it out loud.
As for Demacia's ban on magic, Fiora cared even less.
The power of magic was indeed strong, but what determined whether magic was good or bad was ultimately the person using it.
Like the little blonde, who also knew magic, but she was adorable.
Like Sona, whose very bones seemed to carry gentleness, and who, in Fiora's eyes, would always be an easy girl to bully.
After chatting briefly, everyone skipped over the topic of the mage camp.
Lux instead happily said to Fiora, "I read the newspaper two days ago. Congratulations on becoming first in the Sword Hall, Miss Duelist."
Four days ago, news from High Silvermere had already caused an uproar in the capital.
As House Laurent's rising star, Fiora had only entered the public eye half a year ago. Yet in less than half a year, she had gone from being outside the sword rankings to shooting straight to the top.
During that time, she had not lost a single match.
It could only be called terrifying.
People were once again reminded of the era when House Laurent's swordsmanship dominated everything.
Fiora's accomplishment was even greater than that of her father, Sébastien.
Before this, no one had imagined that a woman could climb to the top of the sword rankings so quickly.
Many people even believed that Fiora's ceiling was destined to be limited, because in the end, she was only a woman.
However, Fiora used her actions to slap every single one of them hard across the face.
The moment she stood atop the arena as number one, the overwhelming way she reached the summit deeply shocked everyone present.
Every swordsman who watched that duel was completely won over by her.
In the past two days, this matter had already spread throughout Demacia. Fiora's current fame in Demacia could be called unmatched.
Walking through any street or alley, almost everyone was discussing it.
She had indeed restored the lost glory of House Laurent, and everyone could foresee it.
From this point on, House Laurent would reach even greater heights because of Fiora.
At that moment, Lux caught one point. "The news only came back four days ago, and it takes five days to travel from High Silvermere back to the capital. In that case, Miss Duelist, you started heading back from High Silvermere the very day you reached the top? Why the rush?"
Fiora glanced at Luke from the corner of her eye, took a sip of tea, and said, "Once I reached the top, there was naturally no reason to stay there anymore. If I had not left, I definitely would have had to face a whole pile of things, so I dumped all of it on Ammdar to handle. If anyone wants to challenge me, then they can come from High Silvermere to the capital... Also, I did miss all of you."
If not for the sake of taking first place in the rankings, she naturally would not have specifically returned to High Silvermere.
Now that she had achieved her goal, there was no longer any meaning in continuing to stay there.
Over there, she had very few people she could even chat with. She truly missed the leisurely days in the capital.
More importantly, she also missed seeing a certain someone.
Exchanging letters alone could no longer satisfy Fiora!
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