A Villainess Should Be Strong

"Could it be..." Estelle began to realize the reality.

The man broke into a cheeky smile as he made a peace sign with his hand.

"Exactly. It was me. I covered everything up stealthily. Didn't I do great?" The man smiled, gesturing for Estelle to follow him with a hand.

Estelle gulped in confusion, wondering whether she should follow or hold back.

Nothing can be too convenient. When it passes a certain level, the word 'coincidence' becomes meaningless. At that point, it would be more sensible to call it ploy rather than just a harmless coincidence.

This time, Estelle was debating on whether the uncanny encounter was just a coincidence or the work of somebody else behind the scenes.

For now, since Estelle had no ideas on how to approach the problem, she decided to let the man guide her.

She was a straightforward person. She didn't care about pretenses and the feeling of being 'below' someone. If being taught by him could give her much benefits, then she didn't mind lowering herself in order to reap the benefits.

He was a former Royal Sculptor, a title that could not be obtained unless you possessed the exclusive skills meant for the position.

Naturally, the man would possess knowledge befitting of the title too. Knowledge she wouldn't be able to obtain in any other way.

She was heavily interested in what the man could offer, although she did not want to admit it out loud.

"..I'll be in your care, then," Estelle bowed lightly before tagging along behind the man's trail.

"What do you want to know? I'll tell you what I can, and what I can't," The man walked up to a table and sat down on the bench next to it.

He gestured for Estelle to sit down, which the girl did.

Sitting on the opposite sides of each other, combined with the serene area from the surrounding space, Estelle felt very tranquil.

She came here expecting a hectic situation, like the endless incidents and dilemmas she had faced before she went to Alfheim.

However, somehow the country's aura made her feel very comfortable, it did not mirror the scene of a foreign country at all.

Estelle thought for quite some time before carefully raising her question up.

"Could you tell me what you feel when you.. use the Moonlight Bow?" Estelle asked for starters.

No matter how she tried to incorporate her combination magic into the bow, it wouldn't enter. Estelle began to have doubts that the bow only accepted the Elven Winds and not a similar version to it.

The man was perplexed upon hearing Estelle's question. It was because the feeling should be natural to those who could wield the Winds and had a strong grip on it.

He himself was a natural talent right from the start, which allowed him to earn the title of a Royal Sculptor. Naturally, he had to ponder harder on how to not activate the bow rather than how to activate the bow.

"What I feel like.. There isn't a specific feel to it. You're making it happen, the Moonlight Bow and how you wield is irrelevant,"

"...Irrelevant?" Estelle blinked as she didn't feel that way at all.

To her, the magic was much more easier to control, but there was a blockage that prevented her from using the Moonlight Bow like how Niki had demonstrated.

It was because she had technically been learning the magic ever since she was born, and was just recently coached on how to utilize the process of combining two separate magic.

Compared to her previous attempts, in which her Creation Magic would not go along with the element of nothingness and Origin Magic without repeated tries, the Wind element was much easier to combine with.

"Rather than using the Wind for the Bow, you are using the Bow for the Wind...? It's hard for me to put it into words, but the feeling that you should grasp.. Should come naturally to you. Don't force it," The man described.

"But what if I can't even use the Bow at all? The string won't show up, the arrow is nowhere to be seen, what am I supposed to shoot?"

The man widened his eyes upon hearing Estelle's follow up question.

"Ah.. the string," The man chuckled. "The string is even more simpler than trying to comprehend the Winds if you've already succeeded in controlling it,"

"I can't do it, though," Estelle pouted, grumbling at her fate.

"You've only tried for.. how much time? In truth, controlling the Winds is much harder. It's hard to assimilate yourself with the power. If you've succeeded in summoning the Winds.." The man dragged out his speech.

Estelle still looked dispirited, as she couldn't comprehend what she had to do fully.

"Hmm, how about this? Try summoning the Winds. Maybe the problem is there?" The man proposed.

Estelle nodded in return, agreeing to perform the action.

She went through the procedure she formulated and created her own version of the Winds. In seconds, her own 'Wind' was summoned.

The man observed with curious eyes.

"This.. You didn't learn it the Elven way, but it is still the Winds," he commented.

"In theory, this should work, right?" Estelle questioned.

"In theory, yes. I've never heard of anybody who has done it in a different way, though," The man answered.

Estelle mused. Could it be that doing it this way was impossible after all? Then, she had to learn it the traditional way?

"I'm not saying that this won't work. In fact, in terms of power, yours is actually stronger and more potent than the Winds. It has a quality that I can't describe, but it's very desirable. I'm sure that you must find it easy to control even though you've just came across it, right?" The man asked.

"That is indeed the case," Estelle nodded, confirming.

"It's a matter of high risk, high return at this point. Your power should have the potential to soar, but I'm not sure whether it'll yield a result in the end. Seeing how you've managed to learn this.. peculiar power of yours, then learning the Elven way shouldn't be too much of a problem,"

"It's whether I want to take the safe option or the challenging option, huh?"

Estelle contemplated. She entered a branched path.

Although she had gotten here pretty easily due to her comprehension of the True Creation Magic and the similarity it had with the Winds, it couldn't be refuted that the Winds might be the only power that can be used in cohesion with the Moonlight Bow. They were a traditional pair and were made to be that way.

However, she too had an instinct that fully believed in her power as the Creation Magic and the Elven history had ties with each other. It was likely that the Winds itself were a subsidiary successor of the power bestowed to the Elven Royals' first generation.

If that was the case, then theoretically Estelle's approach would make more sense.

"Were the bows specifically tailored to the Elven Winds when you made them?" Estelle asked.

If the answer was yes, then she would rethink her choice. If no, then..

"No," The man answered. "The Moonlight Bow, like I said, is just a medium to channel the Winds into concrete power. In form of archery. There has never been a rule that stated you had to use it with the Elven Winds. However, no one has succeeded in using another form of power to make the bow work,"

Estelle gritted her teeth and slowly rethought her plans. "Then, I want to take this chance. My own way. Do you believe that I'll make it?"

"Well, well.. Aren't you a daredevil?" The man chuckled, picking up the bow. "Could you make an object for me to penetrate?"

"Ah.. sure," Estelle readily agreed and began channeling up her magic to create a blockage for the arrow. It was in the form of a transparent shield made out of hardened material, which would provide a sufficient amount of defense.

Within the next second, the man concentrated and aimed at the object Estelle created.

His right hand spread apart. Up to this point, the string and arrows haven't showed up yet.

Then, the man performed a very simple gesture.

He clenched his fist.

A set of light blue string and arrows appeared, setting themselves in place automatically. The man pulled on the string and released it after fixing his aim.

The arrow went loose and shot through the defense barrier, making Estelle, who was standing nearby to prevent any accident react quickly.

She created another object, this time being her signature spear.

With that, she  deflected the arrow and mad eit fall down to the ground once the momentum died out.

Estelle's hand was slightly shaking due to the force she had to suppress in such a short column of time.

"That.. was stronger than I thought it would be,"  Estelle based her creation on the previous demonstration she had seen Niki do, but she hadn't taken into account that the man before her would be stronger than Niki.

Much stronger.

Estelle let out a hushed breath as she composed herself.

However, unbeknownst to her, the man was taken aback for a completely different reason than her.

His eyes were firmly locked on the spear Estelle wielded, his expression showing that there was something wrong.

Estelle noticed the man's sudden silence and looked back up to see what had caused it. She was met with a distraught expression from the man.

Tilting her head, she wondered what the man was thinking about with such a serious expression.