Thirteenth Prince's Odyssey-Chapter 39: Before The Battlefield - III

Liam, as usual, had a different idea brewing. Since he couldn't contribute much to their firepower directly, he offered to take the helm of the ship himself, piloting their vessel to free the others to focus solely on attack and defense. It was risky — but with the ship's handling, the others could channel their full strength into concentrated bursts without worrying about navigation.

"The first strike has to be brief and effective," he said, "enough to secure us the lead in points."

"And then we run," Cassandra spoke.

Liam gave her a faint smile. "No. That's not the end. There'll be a second strike."

The room froze.

"What?" Cassandra blinked in confusion. "Liam, I said we would strike once and flee. That's safer. They'll have a hard time catching us in the forest. And what's the difference?"

"The difference," Liam replied, "is that this isn't a one-shot fight."

Cassandra scowled. "We don't have enough mana. I won't allow anyone to overexert their mana heart in the very first match. It's stupid."

"Who said anything about overexerting?" Liam replied calmly. "We won't."

"Then say it already!" one of the twins cried. "Why keep us in suspense?"

Everyone leaned forward as Liam simply said, "Mana Breathing."

The room went silent.

"Huh?" Theo blinked, confused.

"And... Restorare," Liam added.

Serena, who had been listening intently, gasped as realization hit her.

"No wonder you're a quadra-Elementalist," Liam complimented her.

Cassandra crossed her arms. "Tell me what you're scheming, Liam. I'm the leader here."

Serena stepped in, explaining patiently. "He's suggesting we gather mana running through our veins before the fight. Enough for two assaults. Not to exhaust ourselves, but to build a reserve just for these two attacks. But how?"

"Hmm. not exactly," Liam said with a nod.

"But why two? How can we have two?" Cassandra demanded. "Isn't one good enough? Once we hit them and cause damage, we should flee. Why risk a second attack? They're not going to be a sitting duck there — they'll fight back!"

"I allowed you to run the plan," she went on heatedly, "but now you're getting reckless. This won't do."

Liam smiled faintly, as though he had anticipated her anger. "Who said we're staying around to trade blows?"

Theo, still trying to piece it together, spoke up. "Yeah, Liam. If we slow down after the first strike, we'll get caught easily..."

And then Serena, realizing the missing piece, interrupted, her voice sharp with excitement.

"The pirate ship is smaller, faster! We're going downstream. After the first attack, the river turns sharply again and again. Their bigger ship can't maneuver fast enough. Even if they want to chase us, they'll lose time at each bend!"

She turned to the group, her eyes shining. "We'll have half an hour at least before they catch up!"

"And when they do," Liam said, his voice low and confident, "we won't be running anymore."

The twin sisters clapped each other's shoulders. "We'll strike again."

"What if they don't chase us? Like when our troops didn't give the chase in the real battle." Cassandra enquired.

"They have to," Liam said calmly. "Or they will lose on points."

Everyone stood in stunned silence for a moment, the magnitude of the plan sinking in.

They weren't just aiming to survive.

They were going to control the battlefield.

Liam's idea was ingenious — and undeniably difficult to execute.

Throughout the day, the eight-person team found themselves drained. Seven of them were exhausted, sprawled out between short training bursts, panting and muttering complaints. Only Liam remained composed, quietly navigating the simulation. He didn't cast a single spell, didn't exert his body like the others. His job was simple in appearance: steer the pirate ship.

But it wasn't just any pirate ship. Smaller than Ironhelm's standard fleet ships, it was lighter, nimbler, and built for rivers and narrow escapes rather than brute warfare. From the specifications Liam had been given, it took no more than one navigator to control the rudder and for the acceleration, Arcanite was embedded in the helm's design.

It was perfect.

Perfect to strike once and vanish into the river's twisting arms like a ghost. A real pirate's character — unburdened by honor, unshackled by duty. Hit hard, disappear faster.

If this ship had ever ventured into the open sea, it would have sunk within the hour. But this wasn't the sea, and Liam wasn't a pirate. He was executing a plan for one event — and he was going to make it count.

The others prepared through sweat and repetition. Liam, in contrast, practiced mana breathing in quiet solitude. His breaths were deep and measured, his mind detached. He didn't waste a single ounce of energy. Cassandra noticed his focus and wandered over, curious.

"Liam," she asked, arms crossed, "are you sure you didn't learn this somewhere? Like... some secret treasure Father gave you that the rest of us weren't told about?"

Liam raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

"I mean it," she continued, "how are you so... smart?"

"What do you mean I'm smart?" Liam replied. "Am I not supposed to be?"

"Don't—" she started, then sighed, flustered, she glanced at him. "This isn't how a first-year behaves"

"It's not? Then what are they like?" Liam joked.

"Look at Serena," Cassandra gestured toward their cousin. "She's smart. Gifted. Disciplined."

"She is."

"She didn't come up with something like this, though."

"But she understood it right away."

"My point exactly!" Cassandra threw her arms into the air. "She understood because she's brilliant. But you — you just made it up. With no help, no preparation, no formal education. You didn't even study with tutors at home! Elaine, Evaline, and even I — we all had years of structure. But you? You come out of nowhere and somehow know strategy?"

Liam smiled faintly. "Sis, you're thinking too much. It's just a simple two-attack plan. Anyone with a little reading could've — "

"That's the most confusing part!" she snapped, cutting him off. "I'm a final-year student. I read beforehand. I researched. I stayed up nights planning this. And the best I came up with had more holes than a fisherman's net."

She pointed a finger at him, face flushed. "But you? You not only created a better plan — you made it —"

"Easy," Liam echoed, finishing her sentence with a quiet smile.

Cassandra stared at him. "See?! This is what I'm saying!"

There was a moment of silence. She dropped her hand, staring at her younger brother with an expression torn between pride and frustration.

"You're a natural, Liam. Why have you given up the throne? The barony? Don't you see what I see?"

"See what?"

"I don't even know how to say it," she murmured. "But if I'm thinking right... you'd be more than just a good candidate to be a baron. You could be — " she paused, hesitant to even speak the words. "You could be the king of Ironhelm."

Liam laughed.

"What?" she frowned. "Did I say something funny?"

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"No," he said, still chuckling softly. "Just... déjà vu. Serena reacted the same way when we had a similar conversation."

"She gets it too, then," Cassandra muttered.

Liam smiled and turned to face her fully. "You're thinking too highly of me. I'm humbled, truly, but come on, sister ... being king is no joke. Running a barony is a burden. I'm just a thirteen-year-old, barely a First Blaze Ascendant."

His voice grew quieter.

"Look at the records, sister. Look at the trials, the history, the feats required to even be considered. Then look at my so-called 'talent' again."

She stared at him for a long time, the gears in her mind turning fast. But Liam had already turned back toward the ship simulation, steadying his breath again.

Cassandra watched him for another moment, unsure whether she'd just seen the brilliance of a prodigy... or the quiet resignation of someone who knew too much for his age.

This affair continued for a while, where Liam happily ran through the simulation and continued tempering his Mana Heart through basic Mana Breathing, and others practiced with all their might. After each exhausting day of practice, when the others retreated to their dorms or lay sprawled on the benches outside the demonstration hall, Liam turned his focus elsewhere. The Voices of the Echovaults. His hands were always full — quill in one, Serena's notes on the other, and the Echovault repeating the lectures.

Even the quiet moments most students would use to rest or socialize became breathing exercises for Liam. He had traded casual breath for mana breathing.

Two straight weeks passed in a blur of heat and effort. The team had settled into a rhythm, though it was more like shared exhaustion than harmony. They trained endlessly on coordination— learning each other's movements, timing, and magical thresholds with increasing precision.

Mana breathing drills became part of the routine — especially before each mock skirmish. It was Liam who insisted on it, but Cassandra reinforced it. She had taken it upon herself to practice Restorare to the point of near perfection. It wasn't just a simple healing spell for her now. Every burst of speed, every rapid conjuration, every minor injury — it all circled back to Cassandra's calm incantation.

Initially, Theo begrudgingly followed Cassandra's suggestion to follow Liam's plan, thinking of it as a joke. However, as time passed, he grew in trust in Liam's plan.

What began as a simple training evolved into a meticulously coordinated operation — thanks to Liam's unorthodox strategy. The group was a blend of skill levels and magical expertise, each member of the eight-person team had a distinct role, their abilities honed and positioned with Liam's understanding.

1. Liam Orlean

First Blaze – Apprentice

Role: Captain of the Pirate Ship (Navigator)

Despite being the youngest and least experienced in terms of rank, Liam stood at the helm—not as the commanding voice, but as the mind behind the movement. His role as navigator was deceptively quiet. He didn't contribute directly to magical assault, but without his control of the ship's movement, no strike or retreat would be possible. The Silverstreak pirate vessel, agile and small, required minimal energy to steer, perfectly suitable for Liam.

2. Cassandra Orlean

Second Blaze – Specialist

Role: Healer and Tactical Commander

While Liam handled the wheel, Cassandra controlled the tempo. Her Restorare spell was the lynchpin, keeping the group fighting at peak condition while she guided their formation.

3. Theo Von Braun

Fifth Blaze – Specialist

Role: Spellblade — Vanguard Striker

Theo's job was to deliver the first blow. His ability to channel both physical strikes and arcane bursts made him the front spear in the coordinated assault. Quick, relentless, and precise, he operated on the ship's prow during boarding simulations, disabling enemy mages before they could react.

4. James Root

Fourth Blaze – Master

Role: Battle Mage, Area Control Specialist

James specialized in explosive engagements. During the first strike, he coordinated wide-range elemental barrages, drawing fire and overwhelming Ironhelm's formation with volume alone. His mastery in battle casting allowed the team to take point leads within seconds of engagement.

5. William Cruise

Fourth Blaze – Master

Role: Magus Knight, Defender & Second Wave Reinforcer

William stood between the ship's mid-deck and rear—shielding Cassandra and the Twins. His primary responsibility was containment: ensuring no stray spell, projectile, or summoned entity broke the team's backline.

6. Evaline Orlean

Third Blaze – Master

Role: Warcaster

In the first burst of attack, She and Evaline would cast Fire Arrow and Ice Shard respectively, and then in the final strike — Meteor.

7. Elaine Orlean

Third Blaze – Master

Role: Warcaster

This was the main role — one that could tip the battle instantly: to coordinate with Evaline and cast Meteor. Among all elemental commands at her disposal, Earth was Elaine's most potent, and this spell was its most devastating form. Meteor required a dual-element synergy — Earth to conjure the massive boulder, and Wind to accelerate it into a deadly projectile.

When Liam first proposed the idea, both Elaine and Evaline immediately refused. The spell was far beyond their current tier. Meteor wasn't just advanced — it was a high-tier war spell typically cast only by at least a dual-elementalist Grandmaster. Neither sister had full mastery of both elements and nor they were a Grandmaster.

But Liam made it feasible.

He suggested they split the spell's components, with Elaine conjuring the mass using Earth, and Evaline supplying the Wind needed for propulsion. By dividing the burden, the impossible suddenly became manageable.

Even so, they wouldn't need to conjure multiple meteors. Just one — one carefully aimed strike —would be enough.

In the narrow river valley, evasion was nearly impossible. The geography itself made the spell more lethal. It would cause severe damage to the Ironhelm Ship even if they managed to use the ship's firepower to aim at Meteor. It was a meteor, after all, the fallout alone would cause enough casualties and damage to secure more points. Liam deemed it necessary, to make sure the other away battle didn't give them away on points. This second spell would take at least half an hour for preparation alone, but the chase gave them this time leverage.

8. Serena Beckett

Ninth Blaze – Adept

Role: Shadow Blade, Saboteur

When Liam asked what was Serena's speciality she suggested her role be Shadow Blade, Liam was completely oblivious to her being an assassin-specialized combatant. Liam advised her to not approach a single combatant or a person in the Ironhelm Ship who was above the Adept realm. Serena was a whisper in the wind. As the team's only melee combatant, she moved through shadows, disabling key targets, corrupting wards, and launching coordinated sneak attacks from impossible angles. Her presence tilted skirmishes before they began. She was the unseen dagger that struck before the enemy even saw the hilt.

The plan had been finalized. Strategies had been argued, refined, and finally agreed upon. Every role was clear, and every movement was calculated. All that remained in the final days before the battle were minor refinements — small adjustments to formations, timing, and energy allocation.