Surviving As the 5th Prince of the Ruined Kingdom

007

Ever since I first looked at the skill window, I had been curious.

Could I really learn all of those if I had enough RP?

There were even visions inherited only by blood relatives.

If so, how?

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Questions kept pouring endlessly.

I summoned the ghostly hands that had been tap dancing in the air and opened the skill window with a slightly excited feeling.

It felt different from simply browsing what was there. It was like entering an antique shop with precious treasures hidden everywhere.

Now, I had to choose the most valuable one here. Ah, of course, within the RP I currently possessed.

Swordsmanship, magic, spearmanship, archery······.

Amidst the feast of skills laid out before my eyes, the type I would choose was decided.

‘Mana Cultivation is the top priority.’

Magic is a given, but martial arts such as swordsmanship and spearmanship also require awakening ‘mana’ to learn the vision of ascension.

There are a few exceptions like sacred magic or black magic, but since those don’t show up when searching the skill window, they’re out of the question.

Even the elderly, frail women, or young children can subdue a bear as big as a house with a single strike if they skillfully handle mana.

It is a power that transcends the species of living beings.

The fuel for mana exists in the air, in water, and even in pebbles rolling on the street.

‘Mana’ that dwells everywhere in the world.

The first step in handling mana is absorbing and storing it. What is needed for this is the mana cultivation method. Through special breathing, the absorbed mana is stored in the heart or brain.

Those who enhance their bodies like knights store it in the heart, while those who need the third eye to see mana, like mages, store it in the brain.

‘The choice of the first mana cultivation method is extremely important.’

I overheard that if you learn the ascension method for cultivation methods that accumulate mana in the same location, you can somehow switch between them.

However, changing the location of mana once it has settled in the heart or brain is impossible. If attempted, you will most likely die on the spot. Even if you barely survive, you will become a cripple.

‘Heart or brain.’

It was a critical crossroads forcing me to choose.

– Knights are made, mages are born.

An old adage came to mind.

It doesn’t mean that no talent is required to become a knight. It means it’s easier to train than a mage.

To enter magic, one must pass through several gates.

The first is the mana sensitivity test.

For mages, who manipulate mana delicately on a daily basis, mana sensitivity is like a singer’s voice or a painter’s hand.

99 out of 100 fail here.

The method is simple.

If a child can pick out the special ball imbued with mana from a room full of hundreds of balls, their parents can rejoice. The child has passed the first gate to becoming a mage.

Now, they only need to pass a series of tests that assess their ability to study magic, such as spatial perception, calculation, and memorization.

– It seems the prince will have a hard time learning magic.

The bald mage who had bluntly declared this to me when I had picked out the conspicuous ball during the mana sensitivity test flashed through my mind.

A person who seemed incapable of social life. In fact, he disappeared from the palace not long after……

Occasionally, very occasionally, there are those who made a name for themselves as mages despite lacking mana sensitivity, but that’s because they had something that offset that shortcoming.

I glanced at the phantom hand.

If only I could see the mana-imbued ball like that. Until recently, I sometimes had such thoughts.

Back to square one.

My mana sensitivity was determined to be low, so the orthodox approach would be to choose the knight’s cultivation method of gathering mana in the heart.

However, there is one problem.

Do I really have the talent to be a knight?

When I learned that my mana sensitivity was low, just as I was about to start sword training, my daily life crumbled. I couldn’t even learn the [Lionel Style Swordsmanship] that the kingdom’s recruits practiced.

……

Yeah, it’s just an excuse.

No matter how isolated I was from the outside world, living as the ghost prince, if I had set my mind to it, I could have obtained at least the textbook for the [Lionel Style Swordsmanship]. It might have been found by thoroughly searching the library of the Emerald Palace.

Even if there was no way, I could have at least self-studied swinging, thrusting, and parrying with a wooden sword.

I raised my head and looked in the mirror.

I saw the ghost prince who had been confined in the Emerald Palace. ****

‘This idiot…….’

I was about to say something to my past self but stopped. At that time, when I couldn’t recall my past life memories, I was just an 8-year-old child who had suddenly lost his guardian. ****

Leaving the unchangeable past behind, I decided to focus on the problem at hand.

‘It seems I don’t have much talent for physical abilities either.’

This is not an unfounded thought.

As the punching bag for the damn 4th Prince, Akard’s son, I had to hold a wooden sword at least once or twice a month. ****

I was constantly beaten up.

There is a story that Lionel, the founder of the Lionel Kingdom and my ancestor, slaughtered dozens of monsters single-handedly as soon as he picked up a sword. Even if I’m not at that level, shouldn’t I have some talent if I could at least counterattack occasionally after 5 years of practice? ****

There were times when I managed to block an attack.

– Block? Block?

At those times, I was beaten more severely than usual and ended up bedridden for a week, which brought a wry smile to my face. ****

Regardless of whether it’s for a mage or a knight, it seems I should worry about whether I can feel mana by learning a cultivation method first. It was common for people to be unable to sense mana no matter how much they trained.

Repeating the meaningless action of opening and closing the skill window using the index finger of my ghost hand, I pressed [⌕]. ****

Since detailed search settings were now possible, I adjusted the price range to show only the mana cultivation methods I could learn with my RP, sorted from cheapest to most expensive.

[Heavenly Mana Cultivation Method] – 49RP

[Brain Mana Cultivation Method] – 50RP

[Storm Mana Cultivation Method] – 50RP

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‘Too many.’

Just looking at the names, they were all extraordinary mana cultivation techniques. Most had unknown creators or places of origin.

It was customary for mana cultivation techniques to have the name of the creator, clan, or at the very least, the region where it was developed, attached to the front.

Well, the name isn’t that important, so it can be overlooked. The problem is that among them, there are only a handful of proper ones.

– Prince, Prince! A servant working at the Sapphire Palace became paralyzed from the waist down after practicing a mana cultivation technique he bought from an antique shop.

Practicing unverified mana cultivation techniques is absolutely forbidden.

It’s the same as taking unknown health supplements from a shady street vendor. Yet there are occasional stories of people becoming crippled after practicing such mana cultivation techniques in their desire to gain ‘magic power’.

– But do you know what’s surprising? That mana cultivation technique was actually from the extinct Arakson clan from 30 years ago! Rumor has it that he bought it for just 200 krons. hahahaha! A month’s salary for a mana cultivation technique.

Even if it’s legitimate, self-studying is still dangerous.

The slightest mistake can be fatal. At first it may seem fine, but suddenly your limbs could become permanently paralyzed or you could go blind, which is not uncommon.

Moreover, during mana cultivation, even the slightest external shock can be fatal, so a safe space, or failing that, the protection of a trusted person, is necessary.

‘……. It’s a luxury for me right now.’

He twisted his mouth and pondered how to identify the genuine ones among the mana cultivation techniques listed in the skill window. Eventually, he pulled Gini’s chat window back into his main view.

┕ Can you pick out the proper ones from the mana cultivation techniques I can learn with my current RP?

She should at least be able to answer that much.

“With your current RP, it is difficult for me to answer that question.”

Annoyed, he shoved the chat window back into the corner of his view. With a furrowed brow, he scanned through the listed skills.

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[Harten Lightning Mana Cultivation Technique] -499RP

[Lionel’s Mana Cultivation Technique] -10,000RP

[Azure Tower Beginner’s Mana Cultivation Technique] -10,000RP

[Cerulean Tower Beginner’s Mana Cultivation Technique] -10,000RP

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‘Huh?’

The skill values, which had been gradually increasing, suddenly jumped over 20 times higher.

It was as if they had colluded, all priced the same.

‘I’ve heard of all of them.’

The [Lionel Style Mana Cultivation Method] that high-ranking soldiers of the kingdom could learn, and the introductory mana cultivation methods of the long-established magic towers with branches in various countries around the world. Anyone could see that those were normal.

No, did he say he lacked RP despite having such easily distinguishable things?

A mana cultivation method that a servant from the Sapphire Palace bought at an antique shop cost 200 krons. It was slightly less than the monthly salary of a new servant working at the royal palace.

Considering the average price of the unidentified mana cultivation methods listed in the skill window, one could estimate the rough worth of RP.

Around 1 kron for 1 RP.

Roughly 10,000 won in value from my previous life.

Any person with a bit of sense could distinguish the real mana cultivation methods within a few minutes, yet he claimed he couldn’t provide information despite having 12,000 RP.

Once again feeling enraged, I moved my phantom hand to close the conversation window with Genie that I had pushed aside in the corner…

– To provide information above a certain level, a reasonable amount of RP is required depending on the quantity and quality.

Suddenly, the words Genie had said when I first used [Library] flashed through my mind.

‘A reasonable amount of RP…’

Unless she intended to deceive me, she wouldn’t demand an enormous amount of RP for trivial information.

Then,

‘Could the information usage fee itself become valuable information?’

Just like the unidentified mana cultivation method covered in dust at the antique shop turned out to be real, I wondered if there might be proper mana cultivation methods among those searched with 499 RP or less in the skill window.

But… why bother?

I could just measure the RP equivalent to the power of the skills.

‘Is it like a hidden piece?’

Like the broken sword sold in the beginner village turning out to be a legendary sword – elements that developers sometimes hide in single-player games.

It might be a delusion. It could simply be a prank to make fun of me.

But one thing was certain.

‘I need to check.’

The Loser System.

The lifeline that fell to me, trapped in a narrow and dark well.

The problem was that there were no instructions.

I had to thoroughly examine and analyze it from one to ten. That was my courtesy to the one who threw me this lifeline, and the key to getting out of the well.

If it was true that a reasonable amount of RP was required for the value of information, the way to check if hidden pieces truly existed was simple.

I just had to ask.

There would surely be some special response.

┕ Jini, I want to know more about the Far Realm Mana Cultivation Technique, how much is it?

“The usage fee for that information is 40 RP.”

Cheaper than the Mana Cultivation Technique.

┕ What about the Brain Mana Cultivation Technique?

“The usage fee for that information is 200 RP.”

Huh?

The Mana Cultivation Technique is 50 RP? Could this be a jackpot from the start?

‘Still, 200 RP is a bit weak…….’

Ah, if I learn about any side effects that have occurred, it might be worth that much.

I could always gift it to someone I dislike too. It would make for an excellent assassination weapon.

If I was unsure, I could always increase the sample size.

┕ Next is the Raging Wind Mana Cultivation Technique.

“The information for that……”

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The tedious work continued.

Most Mana Cultivation Techniques demanded a similar, up to about 5 times the amount of RP.

Rumble—Kaboom!

At some point, the previously dark outside was hit by a thunderstorm with pouring rain.

Listening to the pattering of raindrops against the window, I grew tired of mechanically asking questions.

I paused briefly in front of one Mana Cultivation Technique.

[Utmost Mana Cultivation Technique] – 413 RP

An unfamiliar name, yet strangely familiar. After tilting my head for a moment, I asked Jini a question.

┕ What is the Utmost Mana Cultivation Technique?

“There is no information recorded anywhere in this world about the content you asked, so it is difficult to answer.”

Found it.