Fairy Tale Survival with Ability Copying

"Your mentor gave these to you?" After a long moment, Rapunzel's godmother finally managed to tear her gaze away from the pile of incredibly precious materials and look at Levi.

"Yes." Levi nodded. "A small gift from him. Also a little test."

"A test?" Rapunzel's godmother didn't even notice how urgent her tone had become.

"He's testing how I'll make use of these things. Ms. Mela, you know as well as I do that these materials are beyond my current capabilities. Figuring out how to handle them properly is a problem in itself," Levi said, putting on a troubled expression.

"I can help you!"

The words slipped out of Rapunzel's godmother's mouth before she could stop them.

"Oh?" Levi raised an eyebrow.

Taking a deep breath, she said, "What I mean is, we can cooperate. Your materials—dragon blood, dragon bones—can be combined with the magical plants in my Magic Herb Garden to create all kinds of potions with different effects. We can share the results together."

Levi looked at her deeply before suddenly smiling.

"Ms. Mela, I admit your proposal is very tempting. But how am I supposed to trust you?" He gestured toward the materials. "These aren't ordinary resources. You know their value even better than I do."

The burning excitement in Rapunzel's godmother's heart instantly cooled.

Of course she knew their value.

These were treasures left behind by a dragon far beyond the Fourth Order.

Fifth Order? Sixth Order?

Either was possible.

Using them to brew potions, she could easily create concoctions with miraculous effects on the Spiritual Power of Third-Ring Wizards. She could even produce potions that assisted wizards in drawing Fourth-Ring Spell crystals and increased their chances of success.

These materials were worth a fortune.

And precisely because of that, she couldn't bear to give up on them.

Taking them by force was out of the question.

Levi's strength alone made that difficult enough, not to mention the mysterious and powerful existence standing behind him.

As a result, Rapunzel's godmother could only play a different card.

She tried to persuade Levi and make him see her value.

Unfortunately, that was difficult for her.

She was used to having others come to her for help, not the other way around.

She stumbled through a great deal of persuasion, saying all sorts of flattering things. At the core of it all was a single goal: she wanted to cooperate with Levi.

The attitude left Rapunzel utterly stunned.

Was this really the proud and unruly godmother she remembered?

She was dumbfounded.

On the other hand, Little Red Riding Hood Emily and Miss Nightingale Odelle had never interacted with Rapunzel's godmother before. They felt no particular emotional reaction and merely found the conversation somewhat boring.

By the time she finished, Rapunzel's godmother's mouth was practically dry.

Levi used Detection to take a look and felt the timing was about right.

Only then did he leisurely open his mouth.

"Ms. Mela, you're Rapunzel's godmother. Rapunzel has helped me a great deal, and I'm grateful to her. Naturally, I respect you as well."

"But these are different."

Levi pointed toward the mountain-like piles of dragon blood, dragon bones, and dragon hide.

"Ms. Mela, I'm very much looking forward to working with you. But I need a guarantee before I can feel comfortable handing these things over."

Indeed, the value of Levi's materials was immeasurable.

If not for the mysterious mentor behind him—and if Levi himself weren't strong enough to rival her—Rapunzel's godmother would have tried to seize everything the moment she saw it.

She certainly wouldn't have been trying so warmly to persuade him into cooperation.

To be fair, if their positions were reversed, she would have had the exact same concerns Levi did.

After hearing his words, she thought for a moment and said, "Rapunzel is my goddaughter. I can allow her to remain by your side."

Levi shook his head.

That wasn't enough.

What he wanted was far more than that.

"Then state your conditions, Levi. I can try to persuade the Seven Dwarfs. They're very unhappy about you injuring that girl," Rapunzel's godmother said.

Levi was unconcerned.

"I'll handle Snow White's matter myself."

"Let's focus on our cooperation, Ms. Mela."

"These materials are simply too valuable. They must remain within my sight, so..." Levi said.

"So what?" Rapunzel's godmother frowned slightly.

"So... would you mind moving house?" Levi asked.

"What do you mean?" Her frown deepened.

"Move your underground Magic Herb Garden onto my Cloud Territory."

Levi continued, "Ms. Mela, you'll be free to conduct your research and brew whatever potions you wish here. And when you're tired, when you need a break, you'll be able to enjoy scenery from all over the world."

After a brief pause, he added, "What do you think?"

Rapunzel's godmother immediately understood the implication.

Levi wanted her to remain within his field of vision. Only then would he feel at ease.

She fell silent and slowly looked around.

Rapunzel's face filled with concern.

Unable to hold back any longer, she spoke.

"Godmother..."

Rapunzel's godmother swept her gaze across the group and slowly spoke.

"I won't move the Magic Herb Garden here. However, I can build a small house on your territory. Whenever potion ingredients are needed, Rapunzel can go down to the garden and gather them. Any potions successfully brewed will be split equally between us."

"Agreed." Levi nodded and pointed at Little Red Riding Hood Emily and Miss Nightingale Odelle. "But I need your help with these two."

Rapunzel's godmother looked at Levi without saying anything.

Levi continued, "Odelle needs a guide on the path of wizardry. I don't have the time for it, so I hope you can spare some time from your work to teach her."

"As for Little Red Riding Hood, she's a human-werewolf hybrid. Her transformation is incomplete. I want you to help her complete the transformation properly—at the very least, she shouldn't have to walk around with wolf ears on her head. And I don't want others to be able to easily discover her identity."

When Little Red Riding Hood and Odelle heard Levi say this, both of their expressions changed slightly.

The two exchanged a glance but said nothing, quietly watching the conversation between Levi and Rapunzel's godmother.

The famous Potion Witch of the wizarding world frowned slightly as she looked at the two girls.

After a moment of hesitation, she said, "Very well."

"Then here's to a successful partnership." A smile appeared on Levi's face.

Rapunzel's godmother nodded calmly.

Only the flicker of joy deep within her eyes revealed that she was far from as composed as she appeared.

Now that an agreement had been reached, the move began immediately.

Levi still had important matters to attend to. Looking at the Southbound Swallow that was nearly disappearing from his sight, he marked it with a spell before urging Rapunzel's godmother to hurry with the relocation.

She felt somewhat offended by his impatience.

But considering those barrels of dragon blood, she chose not to argue with him.

And so—

Levi moved his Cloud Territory directly above the Magic Herb Garden.

Using spells, he gathered timber from the forest and began constructing a wooden house for Rapunzel's godmother atop the floating territory. While he was at it, he built houses for everyone else as well.

Levi had originally wanted to build a castle in the clouds.

It wasn't that he couldn't do it.

There simply wasn't enough time.

So he settled for wooden houses for the moment.

Meanwhile, Rapunzel's godmother returned to the Magic Herb Garden and removed the tools, magic books, and countless materials stored inside the tower.

Rapunzel worked at the edge of the Cloud Territory, helping her godmother transport everything up.

Little Red Riding Hood and Odelle also lent a hand.

...

While everyone was busy, a prince clad in silver-white armor arrived deep within the forest.

Mounted on a jet-black steed, he galloped through the woods.

His name was Eric.

He hadn't come to hunt.

Rather, he had heard a rumor in a nearby village.

According to the rumor, beautiful singing could sometimes be heard from deep within the forest.

Curious about it, he had specifically come to investigate.

Prince Eric possessed handsome features and the refined bearing of nobility.

Flowing through his veins was a heroic bloodline passed down from ancient times.

Only royal families that possessed such ancient bloodlines were considered true royalty.

They had their own exclusive circle.

Someone like the Duke of Silverbrook occupied the very bottom of that hierarchy and was viewed as little different from a commoner.

But that was another matter entirely.

The bloodline inherited by Prince Eric had become exceedingly diluted over countless generations.

Even so, it still granted him a unique ability—

His eyes could see through most illusions and disguises in the world. Even powerful magical concealment would reveal at least a trace of weakness before his gaze.

That ability was already quite formidable.

Yet within their circle, it was considered nothing remarkable.

There was a prince from another royal family who had been born with divine strength.

Literal divine strength.

The strength of a god.

Along with fearless courage.

That was true power.

(Do you know which fairy tale this prince comes from?)

Compared to that prince, Prince Eric's ability seemed rather unimpressive.

Fortunately, Eric was naturally optimistic.

He never felt inferior because of it.

Instead, he enjoyed life to the fullest and loved exploring mysterious places.

His black steed trod across fallen leaves as it raced through the forest.

A faint golden glow shimmered within his eyes—the visible manifestation of his bloodline power.

It was as though a veil of mystery had been lifted from the world before him.

He noticed unusual fluctuations of magical power in the air.

Recalling the villagers' stories about mysterious singing occasionally echoing from deep within the forest, Prince Eric's heart stirred.

Following his gaze, he looked beyond a dense wall of shrubs.

Gradually, an area hidden behind a magical barrier revealed its true form to his eyes.

It was a secret Magic Herb Garden.

Ancient trees surrounded the garden.

Exotic flowers and rare herbs covered the ground.

Magical plants of every kind flourished in abundance.

Their leaves shimmered with soft luminescence.

Their blossoms released rich yet pleasant fragrances.

A faint scent of potion ingredients lingered throughout the air.

At the center of the garden stood an ancient tower.

It had no door.

Only a single window at the very top.

And through that window, he could vaguely make out the silhouette of someone moving inside.