The Villainess Is My Cute Daughter

[But this technique is fundamentally different from how a mage operates. When a knight uses an Aura Sword, the energy surrounding the blade is entirely their own internal mana. It does not mix with the outside world.]

Adrian nodded slowly. He understood that part perfectly.

[When a mage casts a spell, a specific percentage of the magic comes directly from the surrounding environment and mixes with the caster’s mana. Even a weak first circle mage can do this and this is why beginner spells are designed to rely heavily on internal mana reserves. The lower circle mages lack the mana affinity to pull use the mana from the surroundings.]

[But as a mage ranks up, their natural affinity with the mana around them increases. Because of this, their spells become much stronger. This is the exact reason why a fourth circle mage possesses overwhelmingly more destructive power than a third circle mage.]

[Their internal mana capacity increases, but their affinity with natural mana grows by a massive margin after certain rank ups. Due to this high affinity, the total mana used by a spell is much greater than the internal mana actually consumed.]

[If a third circle mage casts a Fireball using ten mana, the spell will be a specific size. But if a fourth circle mage casts that exact same Fireball with those same ten mana points, the result is totally different.]

[Their Fireball gets massively bigger and hotter. The spell uses the ambient mana in the air to fuel its own growth. Higher ranked mages naturally pull in way more environmental mana.]

Adrian read the final paragraph and nodded as he understood what the system was trying to explain.

His internal mana capacity did not change at all. The Dragon’s Mana Heart just supercharged his ability to pull free mana from the air around him. His spells were stronger because the world itself was helping him cast them.

"Okay." Adrian muttered. "So this is what actually makes the high ranked mages so much stronger than the low ranked ones."

He grinned again. He was incredibly happy with this new broken power.

But he quickly pushed his excitement aside. Because he actually had way more important things to do today. Aria’s birthday was coming up fast and he definitely wasn’t going to let some random magical blessing distract him from the real goal.

So he shoved those thoughts aside and got straight to work.

A square stone block extended up from the floor and then he commanded the dungeon to spawn a sword. A perfectly forged, high quality steel sword dropped onto the stone table.

Adrian looked at the blade and then looked back at his system screen.

’Now give me all the information I need to make a basic enchanted sword.’ Adrian ordered. ’And generate all the basic runes I will need for the process.’

He wasn’t going to make the system do it even though he could. He wanted to enchant this sword with his own hands since this was going to be his first gift to Aria.

Ten days later.

Adrian walked along the streets of Oreswell. He reached the commercial district and pushed the heavy glass doors of the premium tailor shop open.

He stopped right at the entrance and looked around in surprise.

The shop looked completely different from yesterday. Every single fancy dress and velvet coat had been taken off the display mannequins. The clothing racks were pushed against the walls.

Instead of clothes, there were multiple flat wooden tables placed all around the store.

More than twenty people were sitting in front of the tables, busy sketching on large sheets of paper.

Adrian spotted the shop owner standing near the back counter.

The old man spotted him and dropped his charcoal pencil on the paper. He hurried out from behind the counter and bowed low.

"Pay your respects to the Lord!" the owner yelled out.

Every single worker in the room dropped their pencils, turned to Adrian and bowed.

"Welcome to the store, my lord." the workers said at the same time.

"Are the designs ready?" Adrian asked casually.

"Yes, my lord." the owner nodded quickly.

The old man turned to his workers and told them to gather their work. The people hurried around the room, stacking their sketches together into a single pile.

The owner walked up and handed the stack to Adrian.

It was a huge, thick pile of papers which was almost half a foot thick. Adrian took the heavy stack and nodded in satisfaction.

"Thank you." Adrian said.

He dug into his coat, pulled out a leather pouch and tossed it right onto the wooden counter.

"There are a hundred gold coins in there." Adrian said. "I will pay you guys even more once I look through this whole thing and pick the final designs."

The old man bowed so much that his head almost hit the counter in front. He thanked Adrian repeatedly while Adrian just turned around and left the store.

He stepped out into the street and climbed into his private carriage.

The carriage moved as the horses started pulling. Adrian sat on the soft cushions and dropped the massive stack of papers onto his lap.

He did not want to use his system for this part. The dungeon system was basically a giant calculator. It operated purely on logic, math, and efficiency and it did not possess human creativity or artistic taste.

So when it came to fashion and beauty, he had to rely on his own eyes.

But he was not alone in the carriage.

Claire, Serena, and Celeste were sitting inside with him.

Adrian split the massive stack of papers up and handed a chunk to each of the girls.

"Look through all of these designs." Adrian instructed them. "Specifically the ones meant for Aria. Tell me your honest opinions."

The three women nodded and got right to work.

They spent the entire carriage ride back to Oresfall looking at dresses. They debated over sleeve lengths, skirt volumes, and the ratios of the colours used.

By the time the carriage finally rolled through the giant gates of Oresfall, they had made their final decision.