Fairy Tale Survival with Ability Copying

The capital of the Duchy of Silverbrook.

The Grand Duke's castle, positioned in a location easy to defend and hard to assault.

The current Grand Duke of Silverbrook, Edmond Silverbrook, slowly ascended the narrow and steep spiral stone staircase inside the castle's main tower.

The steps, carved from solid obsidian, had been worn smooth as a mirror by centuries of wind and rain, reflecting the flickering torchlight.

His footsteps echoed through the hollow tower, each step heavy and hesitant.

As the ruler of the Duchy of Silverbrook, Edmond knew very well that he was standing at the edge of a cliff.

The entire duchy was wedged between two kingdoms.

To the south lay the powerful Kingdom of Amtyr.

To the north, the Kingdom of Valeria, under its new monarch, was growing stronger by the day and showing an intense desire for expansion, placing enormous pressure on Silverbrook.

The duchy now resembled a withered leaf drifting in the wind, liable to be torn apart at any moment.

Edmond's brows were tightly furrowed. The gray at his temples stood out starkly in the firelight. Days of worry had clouded what had once been sharp eyes, yet he dared not relax for even a moment—for if he fell, the entire duchy might collapse instantly.

He had considered drawing in the strength of the Kingdom of Amtyr to counter the increasingly aggressive Kingdom of Valeria, but Amtyr was not an ally easily satisfied.

"…Sigh."

The Grand Duke let out a deep breath.

By now, he had reached the top floor of the tower.

This was the highest and most secluded place in the entire castle. There were no windows—only a few narrow arrow slits letting in faint sunlight.

At the center of the room stood a large round table, covered with a yellowed parchment map densely marked with symbols.

A man sat beside the table.

He wore a dark gray robe, his hood covering most of his face, revealing only a sparse white beard along his chin—evidence of his age.

He was the one and only First-Ring Wizard secretly maintained by the Silverbrook ducal family, serving under the identity of a court tutor for two generations. The current Grand Duke, Edmond, had also been taught by him.

Holding a thick, leather-bound tome, he was deeply engrossed in reading. Hearing the footsteps, he looked up at Edmond and said calmly: "Your Grace, you look terrible."

"I've been terrible all along, Master Sindru," Edmond replied as he walked over and sat down beside him.

"How is the situation?" Sindru, the First-Ring Wizard, set aside his book and asked with a serious expression, well aware of the duchy's predicament.

"It's not good," Edmond said. "The King of Valeria is extremely aggressive. He's been looking for excuses to annex us. Recently, there have been several small-scale clashes along the border."

"And the outcome?" Sindru paused before asking.

"We lost every time," Edmond said bitterly. "Even carefully prepared ambushes failed. It's as if Valeria has countless eyes watching us—nothing can be hidden. Our ambushes failed, and we were counterattacked instead."

He suddenly turned to Sindru.

"Master… is there any spell that would allow us to clearly understand the enemy's deployments and battle plans?"

Sindru showed a troubled expression and shook his head.

"That would be difficult."

"After all, I am only a First-Ring Wizard. If I were stronger, perhaps it might be possible."

Disappointment flashed in Edmond's eyes. Then, as if recalling something, he asked: "What about your Wizards' Assembly? Can they help gather such intelligence?"

Sindru shook his head again.

"Their strength is even inferior to mine. We can assign them tasks through incentives, but in matters of this level of warfare, they are of no use."

"And the other side is undoubtedly supporting wizards as well."

"With the Church watching from above, we cannot intervene too deeply in such conflicts. Drawing their attention would bring trouble."

"…Sigh."

Edmond let out another heavy sigh.

"If only there were a way to obtain critical intelligence without attracting anyone's attention…"

"Then the pressure on the front lines wouldn't be so severe."

Sindru fell silent.

The request from the Grand Duke of Silverbrook—he truly could not fulfill it.

Edmond suddenly said, "Master, there are rumors that the King of Valeria is exceptionally learned, extraordinarily intelligent, and seemingly knows everything. No matter how secret something is, he appears to be fully aware of it."

(Take a guess—which fairy tale character is this king?)

"Tell me… could it be that he's actually a wizard?"

"Your Grace, you already know the answer," Sindru said softly. "The Church has investigated him. There is no Magic Power in his body. He may simply be very intelligent."

Edmond let out another deep sigh.

"If only I could know everything like the King of Valeria…"

"Or at least have someone capable of uncovering all of the enemy's intelligence—that would be enough."

Sindru showed a helpless expression and said, "Your Grace, at the Wizards' Assembly in one day, I will issue a task to investigate Valeria's intelligence to the other participants." "However, if I do that, those wizards and wizard apprentices may begin to suspect the connection between you and me."

"That's a problem for later," Edmond said, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes.

If the Duchy of Silverbrook could not survive this crisis, there would be no "later."

Sindru fell silent for a moment before saying, "Your Grace, perhaps we could make use of the Kingdom of Amtyr's strength."

"The Kingdom of Amtyr?" Edmond's face darkened with anger. "They would only loot while the fire is still burning."

At a glance, Sindru knew the Grand Duke had already considered that option.

He said nothing further.

But Edmond continued, "Master, do you know? Recently, a young and mysterious Great Knight has arrived in the capital."

"Many of the duchy's noble families are already making contact with him."

"Do you think he might…"

"I will look into his background," Sindru said, immediately understanding Edmond's meaning and nodding.

"Then I'll leave it to you. If his background is truly clean, perhaps you can try to recruit him into the royal household. A Great Knight is still very useful."

"As you wish, Your Grace," Sindru replied calmly.

Neither he nor Edmond noticed that above them, on the rooftop, a nightingale stood in the cold wind.

After the two had stopped speaking for a while, the nightingale quietly flew away without making a sound.

...

Levi returned to the inn and reverted to his human form.

The moment Yalina saw him, she rushed over. "Levi, a lot of people came looking for you today."

"Most of them were nobles—they wanted to invite you to banquets."

"I turned them all away."

"But I think they'll come again."

"What should we do?"

Levi was completely unconcerned. "What should we do? We do nothing."

"Ignore them."

"Focus on improving your strength first."

"Coachman."

At the mention of that word, Yalina gritted her teeth in frustration.

He really was treating her like a coachman—using her for that and nothing else.

That made her furious.

But as soon as Levi finished speaking, he closed his eyes and entered a meditative state. Yalina didn't dare disturb him, so she could only stomp off to the side and angrily begin practicing the Moon Wolf Knight Breathing Technique.

...

Levi now had a clear understanding of the strength of the Duchy of Silverbrook's Wizards' Assembly.

At most, they were only at the level of a First-Ring Wizard.

To Levi, that posed no threat at all.

On top of that, he had obtained the Blessed Golden Plate, which compensated for one of his weaknesses.

Confident, he decided to attend the Wizards' Assembly.

Although he had not received an invitation from internal members, if no one invited him, he could simply attend on his own.

For Levi, that was not difficult.

However, he had no intention of taking things by force.

He planned to follow the rules within the assembly and trade fairly.

As for what he would use in exchange, it would naturally be the Silver-Scale Surge Potion, capable of helping knights break through to the Great Knight level, as well as Silver Arrowfish.

Both were readily available.

Levi believed they should be more than sufficient.

Judging from the situation of the so-called "mentor" hidden within the Grand Duke's castle, the wizards—or rather, the wizard apprentices—of the Duchy of Silverbrook were likely not living well.

After all, the previous generations of wizards had already driven their path into a dead end.

As a result, present-day wizards were treated like rats in the streets, constantly watched and suppressed by the Church.

That "mentor," Sindru, didn't even dare intervene in the Silverbrook Grand Duke's frontline war efforts.

That said, the Grand Duke of Silverbrook really wasn't having an easy time either—just look at how haggard he was.

Levi suddenly thought of The Frog Prince.

In that story, after the frog turned back into a prince, he quickly married the princess, and his loyal servant Henry arrived at the castle the very next day.

On the surface, it all seemed very "fairy tale-like."

But if you looked at it from a realistic perspective, you would notice a strong sense of urgency beneath it.

The princess's father was urgently in need of external support!!!

Seen that way, everything made sense.

At that thought, Levi fell silent for a moment, then cast aside the distraction and focused on meditating to restore his Magic Power.

...

Time passed in a flash, and dawn arrived the next day.

The entire capital of the Duchy of Silverbrook was still shrouded in darkness.

Levi transformed into a Night Demon Owl, carrying a bundle containing Silver Arrowfish and the Silver-Scale Surge Potion in his beak. He flew toward the public cemetery outside the city and stopped at a certain spot.

Even in the darkness, Levi—while in his Night Demon Owl form—could see with perfect clarity. He easily spotted a wizard apprentice hiding in the shadows.

The other party did not notice him.

"Sorry."

With a single surprise strike, Levi rendered the apprentice unconscious, ensuring he would not wake up for several hours.

Then Levi returned to human form and used Wizard's Hand to strip the apprentice of his clothes and mask, putting them on himself.

[Roland, Third-Tier Wizard Apprentice, codename: Nature.]

"Sorry."

Levi placed one Silver-Scale Surge Potion and one Silver Arrowfish beside him, then calmly opened the hidden mechanism, entered the passage, and headed toward the underground catacombs where the assembly was being held.

At roughly the same time, at the other six entrances, wizards and wizard apprentices—wearing thick hooded robes and masks—entered their respective passages and made their way into the underground catacombs.

Before long,

Levi arrived at the location of the Wizards' Assembly.

Before him lay a massive underground catacomb, clearly renovated with care. The stone chambers that once held coffins had been cleared out. In the center, a ring of pale violet magical flames burned—producing no smoke, yet providing sufficient, eerie illumination.

Along the surrounding stone walls, individual alcoves had been carved out, resembling the compartments of a honeycomb. Each alcove contained one or several figures, with dark passageways yawning behind them like the maw of an abyss.

Levi stood within one such alcove.

The figures around him were the wizard apprentices and wizards attending this gathering.

The number of wizards was extremely small—only two.

One was the thin figure standing at the center: the "mentor," Sindru.

The other stood in an alcove diagonally opposite Levi. Behind him stood a slender figure—a Second-Tier Wizard Apprentice.

Both wizards were only at the First-Ring level. The "mentor" possessed mid-level First-Ring strength, while the other was merely at the early stage.

As for the wizard apprentices, most were Second-Tier, with only a small number of Third-Tier apprentices.

Seeing this, Levi understood clearly—the wizard strength of the Duchy of Silverbrook was indeed quite weak.

But that was understandable. After all, it was only a small duchy.

Not every country could have someone as monstrous as the Magic Mirror Queen.

Through Detection, Levi had already locked onto his target—the First-Ring Wizard accompanied by the apprentice.

That wizard possessed the Stardust Levi needed.

At that moment, standing at the center of the catacombs as the host, Sindru spoke: "Since everyone has arrived, I now declare this trading assembly officially open."

He lightly tapped the table.

A figure wearing a bronze beaked mask stepped forward and said: "I require Deep-Sea Giant Octopus Tentacles to craft a water-breathing potion. In exchange, I offer a branch of Flame Elderwood. It can be used to craft a wand and enhances fire-type spells."

After a brief silence, a wizard apprentice from one of the alcoves spoke in a deliberately hoarse, disguised voice: "I have what you need. However, I do not require Flame Elderwood. What I need is a potion that improves the meditation efficiency of wizard apprentices."

"What you're asking for exceeds the value of your item," the bronze-beaked figure said coldly.

"I know," the hoarse-voiced apprentice replied. "But I will provide additional items as compensation."

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I will post some extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. >> /TitoVillar

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