Combat Maid Harem

"These words… How did I not realize them sooner?" the old man questioned himself in a daze.

"What is your name?" Lawrend asked.

"My name is Saturn Vorqest. I'm truly inferior compared to you, Your Imperial Majesty," Saturn answered and lowered his head.

He came to understand why Lawrend was so powerful. Unlike them, he was willing to take risks.

Lawrend looked away from Saturn and gazed at the other Earth Mages. He said, "Do all of you know why failure is a good thing?"

"Because it allows us to find success?" a middle-aged lady answered.

"Not really. Failure is a tool to see if your answer was correct. Whether it is to create your own spell, brew a potion, or draw a magic formation. It allows you to challenge what is possible.

"If you are always succeeding, are you sure that your success is the perfect answer? What if there is something better? How would you ever know if you don't try failing?" Lawrend uttered slowly and patiently.

The Earth Mages shivered. His words greatly enlightened them. It was like the word of a prophet.

"Wow… Failure is a tool to help you find the correct answer, but not necessarily the best one, right?" Saturn asked as he raised his head in realization.

He widened his eyes at the sheer disbelief he felt. He felt something uncover his eyes. It was similar to having a blindfold removed from his face.

"Correct. You understood it. By constantly failing, you will eventually land to the best answer. There will be a lot of 'answers' along the way, but those are only false successes. In life, you will feel like you succeed at some point, but then you will compare yourself to others.

"After comparing yourself, you will realize that your 'success' is nothing compared to others. Some might even call you a 'failure'. Thus, true success is found by failing. You need to try paths or solutions that you think are hard or even impossible," Lawrend said calmly with a smile on his face.

These were the insights he got after constantly simulating his spells inside his mind. There were times when he got a working spell, but he wasn't satisfied with the result.

He failed more times before getting a better spell. He then continued and continued until he finally got the spell at the limit of that level. It was also why he wasn't finished with his Supernova spell even though he could already cast it.

Lawrend wanted the spell to be at its best. He couldn't be proud of it otherwise.

Lawrend looked around and saw everyone pondering. He nodded his head in satisfaction and sat back on his throne.

This included Ember. Her eyes were blank as she processed Lawrend's words. She applied them to herself and realized there were a lot of things she could improve.

It made her understand why she didn't become a Heaven Mage yet. Some of her mage skills were still lacking. It was hard to explain which, but she could sense them.

"Master, can I sit cross-legged?" Ember politely asked.

"I don't mind," Lawrend replied with a wave of his hand.

Ember didn't reply and immediately sat down on the ground. Her mind focused on the things she felt she lacked and thought about how to improve them.

"Sit down. Do your best to improve," Lawrend said to Saturn.

Saturn nodded his head and sat down on his chair. The whole camp became silent. Each Earth Mage focused on their minds. They immediately found improvements to their mage skills and absorbed the mana in the surroundings.

The mana from outside rushed into this large tent and surprised the mage army. They were curious but didn't dare to approach.

Lawrend closed his eyes and thought of ways to improve his Supernova spell. It was really simple in principle, but it was actually really hard. All of his understanding of the sun were things he learned in high school.

His college course never improved on that basic understanding. So right now, he was struggling.

After a whole day, the Earth Mages finally started to regain clarity one by one. They sensed the changes in their mana and became ecstatic. They looked at Lawrend and bowed their heads to him.

His lesson and words gave them a path to work on in the future. They weren't sure if they could become Heaven Mages, but they could take more steps toward it.

Their strengths also improved. They weren't sure how much, but that only made them eager to fight the remaining Earth Mages in the Blumin Empire.

"This lesson is enough for us to willingly serve you, Your Imperial Majesty," Saturn said and bowed his head.

Julianne visibly panicked when she heard Saturn's words. She stood up and looked at the Earth Mages. They all had solemn looks on their faces.

She knew a lot of them, and they nodded at her as if to request for her permission.

Julianne took a deep breath and sat back down on her chair. She was a part of the Imperial Family, but she also felt the urge to serve Lawrend. His charisma, knowledge, and wisdom attracted her.

The Trunden Empire was known as warmongers that kept conquering again and again. At this moment, they were willing to betray their emperor and serve another man whom they just met with not long ago.

For some reason, Julianne felt something tug at her heartstrings. She was already quite old compared to Lawrend, but her current feelings didn't care about that.

She could imagine a future where Lawrend would rise above the top. It attracted her and caused her to stare at him lovingly.

Of course, Lawrend noticed her gaze. He shook his head and closed his eyes.

He wasn't in any mood to accept any woman after realizing how hard it was to make all of them happy. Ember also increased his standards which made it harder for Julianne to fall into his eyes.