Morrigan stared at the long row of magical gems in front of her, rubbing her chin as her eyes darted from one to the next. They were of every shape and color, a collection Alphegor had ordered to be brought out from the Royal Treasury. A troublesome task that was once again hoisted onto Azrael in addition to his previous punishment.

"How am I to choose just one?" she looked at Azrael who was leaning against the nearby wall, his eyes closed and his body lax.

"It doesn't matter. You'll be able to learn them all in time. Just pick the one you want to learn today," the demon replied, not bothering to open his eyes.

"It does matter. It might take a while for me to properly master this magic so it needs to be something useful. Something more important than other magics," Morrigan lifted a blue gem closest to her. "I don't even know what most of these do. Like what is this one?"

Azrael opened one of his eyes briefly, then closed it again, "That one is a sapphire. It contains water magic."

"Water manipulation or water creation?"

"It's sapphire, a level 9 gem. Of course, it contains both," he grumbled. Morrigan put down the gem and walked over to Azrael.

No, definitely not water. Bathtime alone is a challenge. Dealing with water magic would force me to constantly relive the day I died.

"Will you stop sulking already and help me pick a gem like a magic teacher should?"

"Nah," he replied curtly. Morrigan walked up to him and jabbed a finger into his side. Unfortunately, the demon didn't even flinch, completely ignoring her attempts to rouse him.

"You know that if I hadn't asked Father, your punishment would have been much worse."

"I know…"

"So help me out already! I don't know much about magic," she tugged on his sleeve, and Azrael finally opened his eyes and looked at her. His gaze was somber and tired, and she wondered what could have made this usually cheerful demon so downcast. "Did something happen?"

He looked at her for a long while, then ruffled her hair, his signature grin returning to his face. "Alright, let's get down to business!"

Odd. I wonder what put him in such a mood. I doubt it was related to the punishment. He got through rather lightly – as always.

"There was no need to mess up my hair," Morrigan grumbled and watched as Azrael strode to the long line of gems that were laid out on the training grounds. He picked up three and then returned to her side. She wanted to ask what exactly had put him in such a bad mood in the first place but decided against it.

It'll make him sulk again. I'll ask him some other time.

"I believe the best choice now would be to learn some offensive magic."

"Offensive magic? I don't want to fight anybody," Morrigan objected, shaking her head and taking a step away from the gems. "Why can't I have some paint magic or color magic or something like that?"

"Because paint magic isn't going to save you when an assassin attacks. Many demons will surely want to remove you from the picture. Previously, you were the only candidate and a young child at that, so the amount of attempts on your life was rather tame."

So there is some sort of paint magic? I'm going to have to look more into that when I have the opportunity.

"No, whatever you are plotting in that little brain of yours – stop. Things are going to get serious now. If you want to survive, then you need to learn how to defend yourself," Azrael said and presented the gems to Morrigan.

Giving other princesses the chance to become the heir must have really riled up some nobles. No doubt they will do everything in their power to remove me as soon as possible.

Morrigan took a deep breath and steeled herself.

Azrael is right. I need to be able to protect myself, instead of just relying on my father and him all the time. They cannot be by my side all the time.

"What are these gems?" Morrigan asked, and Azrael's expression softened.

"The red one here is fire opal. Can you guess what magic it contains?" he snickered, and Morrigan laughed in response.

"Oh, I don't know. Perhaps – rock?" she joked.

"That's right. How'd you know?" Azrael played along, then pointed to the blue gem that had golden streaks running through it.

"This one is a lapis lazuli – it contains electric magic. The clear one is an antarcticite and of course, it contains ice magic."

Morrigan carefully looked over the gems, trying to imagine how it would feel to use each type of magic. And which could be best used offensively.

Ice magic seems rather useful. I could easily stop any attackers in their tracks, create icy walls to block attacks and… pierce them with ice. Not sure if I want to put people on an ice skewer. Also, how'd I even remove all that ice afterward? Does it come with a convenient unthaw switch? Probably not.

The gruesome scene made Morrigan shiver, so she shifted her focus to the lapis lazuli.

With electricity, I could just electrocute enemies and leave them paralyzed. But how would I control it? Isn't it really difficult to predict where electricity will go? What if I accidentally electrocute a friend? I'd rather not.

Finally, she looked at the smooth fire opal.

Fire magic seems destructive but would certainly be very effective offensively. But it has the same problem as electricity – how to properly control it? It's probably easier to handle than electricity but I'm not sure.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"Oh, and before you choose, remember that whichever magic you choose, you will also gain a certain resistance to the corresponding element. So if you were to choose antarcticite then you'd be more resistant to cold weather and ice attacks in general."

"Resistance you say?" Morrigan pondered and remembered the unbearing heat she had felt near the lava river. Those were hardly a rarity in the Underworld, and Morrigan was never particularly fond of hot weather, even as a human.

Having made her decision, she reached for the fire opal and engulfed it in her palms. She imagined its power seeping into her body, the gem slowly being absorbed. A few moments later, she felt the stone disappear and a warm tingle passed through her.

"Good choice. Can never go wrong with fire," Azrael noted and put down the other two gems. Morrigan nodded and took a deep breath.

"Alright, so how do I do this? Do I just imagine launching a fireball or something?" she asked.

"Pretty much," Azrael shrugged and leaned against the wall, watching over Morrigan. She took a deep breath, outstretched her hand and then imagined a fireball flying at the dummies on the other side of the training grounds.

But instead of a small fireball like she hoped, a giant sphere of fire grew in front of her.

"Wha–" she panicked and tried to stop the magic, but the ball just kept growing and growing.

"Princess, stop!" Azrael yelled.

"I can't!" she screamed back. The fireball was growing so big and it was threatening to swallow her and Azrael, so she tried to mentally shove it away from herself. The flaming monstrosity moved towards the poor training dummy and then exploded. Azrael lunged towards Morrigan and wrapped his body around her.

A moment later a wall of fire erupted around them. She feared that Azrael would take the brunt of the hit, but noticed a shimmering forcefield around them that protected them from the raging flames. They remained in that position for about half a minute until the fire began to disperse.

Azrael stood up, uncovering Morrigan and allowing her to take a proper look around the training grounds. Everything in the room that was made out of wood – dummies, shields, training swords and benches – was burned to a pile of ash. The floor and walls were covered in black soot, and even the door was singed. Only the magical gems lay on the floor unscathed. Even Morrigan's guards laid limp on the ground.

"Oh no! Did I kill them?" Morrigan gasped and ran up to the guards, searching for any vital signs.

"No. They're fine. But it seems like they exhausted their magic reserves in order to guard against your fireball," Azrael said, carefully stepping over ash. "This will be hard to explain."

Morrigan heard shouts coming from the hallway beyond the training grounds, and less than a minute later a bunch of demons, mostly maids and servants, ran inside.

"Nothing to see here, folks! Return to your duties," Azrael waved his hands, trying to get the demons to move, but they stood stubbornly in their place, muttering among themselves and looking at Morrigan with shocked eyes.

"Morri! Morri! Are you alright?" Deziara came running through the hallway, unceremoniously pushing the servants aside and running up to Morrigan. "I heard a loud noise. What happened?"

"It's alright, Deziara. Nothing happened, really," she replied, forcing herself to smile in front of the gathered crowd. In reality, her heart was beating like crazy, as she tried to comprehend what destructive power she just acquired.

What would have happened if I wasn't within the confines of the training grounds? What if somebody who couldn't defend themselves would have been hit by that?

"What happened to the guards? Did somebody attack you?" Deziara looked over the training grounds, searching for any assailants.

"Nobody attacked us. There is nothing to see. Everything is under control," Azrael shouted and began to physically push the crowd away. But people were resisting, not willing to move and more demons ran through the halls, joining the already gathered mass. Among them were some of Morrigan's sisters as well as curious concubines.

"What happened to the guards?"

"It must have been an attack. The whole training grounds have been destroyed."

"Is the castle not safe anymore?"

"Isn't it clear what happened?" a feminine voice spoke up, and everyone turned to look at Viana who was walking towards the scene with her head held high and a faint smile on her lips. "My little sister lost control of her power."

The crowd gasped and then turned to Morrigan. Their gazes were piercing and judgemental, and she felt the urge to turn and run.

No, if I run, then it's all over. I have to stand tall and show them that it was intentional.

"I'm afraid my eldest sister has jumped to conclusions. I did not lose control, I was merely testing the limits of my power," Morrigan replied, crossing her hands over her chest in a challenge. Viana was about to open her mouth again when all of the gathered demons bowed their heads. Alphegor was approaching, his eyebrows furrowed in a deep scowl.

"What's with the racket? What happened?" the King asked, and glanced over the whole scene. When his eyes met with Morrigan's, she grinned sheepishly at him.

"Father, it appears Morrigan had a training accident," Viana said with her head bowed. Much to her dismay, the King just roared with laughter and let out a loud whistle.

"Look at that power! At age four, when most demon children haven't even manifested their abilities yet!" Alphegor went up to Morrigan and picked her up in his arms. "You'll be a demon to fear one day!"

Morrigan noticed how Viana bit into her lower lip while the gathered demons relaxed.

"But what if Morrigan doesn't learn to control it? It could be really dangerous," Viana said, but Alphegor just waved his hand dismissively.

"Nonsense, she'll have it mastered in no time at all. Won't you, Morrigan?" he announced, and Morrigan could feel cold sweat form on her palms.

"Of course," she replied with as much vigor as she could, although Morrigan had no idea how she could ever control that fire. It felt like it had a mind of its own.

"Wonderful! Now, clean this up. Azrael, gather the gems and come to my office afterward," Alphegor ordered and strode away, holding Morrigan in his arms. As they retreated, Viana glared at her with such intensity that Morrigan felt she might drop dead. Servants also didn't appear too pleased, seeing a large clean up ahead of them.

After they reached Alphegor's office, the King put her down on the sofa and then drew the same spell to block overhearing from outside and waited. Unlike in front of the crowd, he appeared far more serious and thoughtful.

"Did I… mess up?" Morrigan asked, peering at him. Alphegor seemed to snap out of his thoughts and turned to her.

"No, this is not your fault. It's just not quite what I expected. I need to hear Azrael's thoughts on this."

A few long minutes later, there was a knock on the door, "It's Azrael."

"Come in," Alphegor ordered. The white-haired demon came in, his expression just as serious as Alphegor's.

"So – what happened?"

"It seems like the Princess has a natural affinity with fire magic. That and her naturally huge magical potential created a rather explosive effect," Azrael sighed and ruffled his hair.

"Do you think she could learn to control it?" Alphegor asked.

"Yeah, but how long it'll take and how easy it'll be depends purely on her," he said and looked at Morrigan.

"I'll… do my best?" Morrigan gave them a crooked smile and a thumbs up.

"Change the training place to the dungeons. We can't have another incident like this happen where everybody would see it," the King said and Azrael nodded.

"Wait, the dungeons? Is that really necessary?" she asked, remembering the dark, trap-riddled place.

"It's only a temporary measure. I promise to find you a better training spot soon," Alphegor said, then knelt by her side and looked her straight in the eyes. "I know this is much for me to ask, but you must gain control of this power as soon as possible. Your life may depend on it."

Morrigan nodded at him, and Alphegor gave her a quick hug and stood up.

"Now get to it, there's no time to lose."