"Use magic, Your Highness."
Remedios answered decisively.
"Your Highness, you are a magic caster. In a situation like that, you should take advantage of your strengths as one."
"Given your current circumstances, you certainly can't compete with an opponent physically. Therefore, only magic can help you gain the upper hand," Remedios explained earnestly. "If you control it well, you might even be able to win. Of course, if you could bring a weapon or something similar, the possibility would be even higher."
That's right!
Calca was struck by a sudden realization. Ever since that old skeleton had decapitated her with his cross-shaped war scythe, she had subconsciously overlooked the obvious.
But if she thought about it carefully, there were gods in that space! How do magic casters usually perceive the shadows of the divine? It's precisely when they are chanting spells and manipulating mana!
In other words, she had been standing in an entire ocean of mana back then; she just hadn't realized it. If she could cast magic in the real world through what felt like a layer of gauze, how could she fail to cast it once that barrier was removed? It made no sense.
In fact, far from just being able to cast magic, she might even receive some kind of magical buff in that realm.
The only question left to consider was: Could Surshana cast magic too?
Maybe, maybe not. But judging by the fact that he chose to decapitate her with a scythe back then, he definitely had a reason not to use magic. Whether that reason was significant or trivial, it was an obstacle for him.
Furthermore, Surshana might currently be functioning like a mindless robot. Perhaps he was programmed such that he wouldn't resort to magic unless a certain threshold was met?
It was possible!
For a moment, Calca paced back and forth in excitement. The path ahead, though narrow and rugged, seemed to be splitting into more and more possibilities. As long as she worked hard, she might be able to piece these paths together into a grand highway leading straight to the heavens.
Combined with the training Remedios was giving her, she could attack the problem from both sides. What was there to fear?
Calca's mind soared, her blood boiling with anticipation. However, that fire was immediately doused by Remedios's next words.
"However..."
Looking at the excited Calca, Remedios's expression turned hesitant.
"Your Highness, the information you've provided is a bit sparse. Is the person with the cross-scythe a professional warrior? What rank are they? If they are a Gold-plate adventurer, I'm afraid your current condition wouldn't allow you to fulfill the requirement of getting past them."
"Gold-plate" was a rank used by the Adventurer's Guild to classify strength. Based on ores and metals, the ranks were: Copper (Levels 1–3), Iron (4–6), Silver (7–10), Gold (11–14), Platinum (15–17), Mithril (18–20), Orichalcum (21–23), and finally, Adamantite (Level 24 and above).
Though Gold appeared to be only the fourth rank, it actually represented the upper tier of human strength. To put it in perspective, her father's Royal Guards were the "best of the best" handpicked from the veterans who survived the cycles of slaughter at the Eastern Great Wall, yet they only numbered five hundred. Their captains reached the Platinum rank, which was the point where one began to touch the limits of ordinary humanity.
True "Heroes" generally fell between levels 28 and 35, and anything above that was the realm of Outliers.
As a Level 100 player, Surshana wasn't a dedicated warrior, but his miscellaneous stat bonuses alone would likely give him the physical prowess of a Level 30 warrior. Even if his strength was diminished by the nature of that strange space, he would surely still be at the level of an Adamantite or Orichalcum adventurer.
The good news, however, was that Surshana didn't seem to use Martial Arts.
When Calca hesitantly mentioned this detail, Remedios recoiled, her brow furrowing like an old man squinting at a confusing sign.
"Impossible. Absolutely impossible."
"Even if the opponent doesn't use Martial Arts, it's impossible for Your Highness to get past them. Martial Arts are just a way for us warriors to burst with power; our 'floor' level is always there. No matter how much magic you learn, you might not be able to bypass them. I've seen Adamantite-ranked Paladin Grandmasters in action—I can barely keep up with their speed. And we Paladins aren't even as fast as pure warriors when it comes to technique. So, it's simply impossible for Your Highness to succeed."
"Well, at least not for the next few years," Remedios added, pouting slightly as she realized she might have been too blunt.
Calca nodded thoughtfully, then looked at Remedios with curiosity. "Then what level are you?"
"Me? My blessing magic and techniques are roughly at the Silver rank. But before I left, the Grandmaster said my skills have reached the Gold rank. It's just that my body is still small, so I'm currently a bit weaker than a Silver adventurer but stronger than a typical Iron rank."
Weaker than Silver, stronger than Iron... so somewhere in the Level 6–7 range?
As expected of the Holy Kingdom's prodigy from the original story; she already had this much power at eight years old. Even if Remedios didn't improve a single bit from now on, once her body fully matured, she would naturally step into the top tier of human excellence (Levels 11–14). Two years of her growth represented the life's work of countless others.
"That's amazing!" Calca couldn't help but praise her.
"It's nothing, Your Highness," Remedios replied, looking a bit bashful. She then added, "From what I've seen of your magic practice these past few days, I feel like Your Highness is about to reach the Second Tier. When that happens, I won't be a match for you."
"It's not the same, it's not the same," Calca waved her hand.
Theoretically, once she entered the Second Tier, her minimum level would be 8—higher than Remedios. But that was because magic casters didn't rely heavily on their physical bodies. In terms of pure potential, Remedios was already effectively Level 11; it was only her child's body dragging her speed down.
"If I can't get past him, then... is it possible for me to at least touch him?" Calca asked seriously.
This was her original plan. If there was no hope of touching the radiant "Angel Kitty" for now, she would settle for touching Surshana. They were both gods, after all—what was the difference?
"Touch him?" Remedios fell into thought.
The physical stats of an Adamantite-rank powerhouse were immense, and a cross-scythe was a peculiar weapon to deal with, but if it was just a matter of making contact...
"And what if I also underwent a certain amount of training?" Calca asked with determination. "The kind involving weapons!"
If Surshana could wield a weapon in that space, why couldn't she? After all, the "original" of that cross-shaped war scythe was currently in the hands of Zesshi Zetsumei over in the Slane Theocracy.
After a long silence, Remedios looked at Calca and gave a serious nod.
"It is possible, Your Highness!"
"Excellent. Then let's get moving with that goal in mind!"
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I'm not the Queen Greatsword. (70 Chapters, Ongoing)
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