First chronicle has less about never misusing intelligence (10)
I believe the answer is:
cleverness
'intelligence' is the definition.
(cleverness is a kind of intelligence)
'first chronicle has less about never misusing' is the wordplay.
'first chronicle' becomes 'c' (1st letter of 'chronicle').
'has' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'about' indicates putting letters inside.
'misusing' indicates an anagram (I've seen 'misused' mean this).
'never' with letters rearranged gives 'verne'.
'less' placed around 'verne' is 'leverness'.
'c'+'leverness'='CLEVERNESS'
(Other definitions for cleverness that I've seen before include "Quick intelligence" , "genius, perhaps" , "Skill, adroitness" .)