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Chapter 45
“But, teacher…”
During Noah’s magic lesson.
Holding a blue droplet in her right hand and a red flame in her left, Lucillea asked Noah,
“When can I decide on my attribute?”
She quickly dismissed both water and fire and, just as easily, summoned wind and earth into each hand instead.
In her right hand, a translucent, pale-green butterfly of wind fluttered, while in her left, grains of brown earth rose and writhed like a living sand snake.
Noah gave a dry laugh at the sight.
“She’s a monster. An absolute monster.”
It hadn’t even been a month since Lucillea had entered the Grand Duke’s estate.
Naturally, it had only been about that long since she began taking Noah’s lessons.
Yet in that short time, her mana had grown even more.
For any supernatural ability, the vessel holding that power has limits. But this girl kept expanding her mana reserves as if such limits didn’t exist.
“And it’s not even like she’s forcing it on purpose…”
It was strange—worrying, even.
Normally, one hits a wall, a bottleneck, after which growth slows down.
But Lucillea hadn’t hit any limits. Not once.
“Can her mana just keep growing like this?”
Noah had never heard of such a case, so he was at a loss.
“Should I show her to Master…?”
At that moment, Lucillea dismissed the magic from her hands and asked again.
“Well? Which attribute am I better suited for? Why won’t you answer? You’re not napping with your eyes open again, are you?”
“…No.”
Noah cleared his throat and stepped down from the window sill, walking toward her.
“Don’t you feel it? Which attribute feels easier, more natural to you?”
Lucillea shrugged.
“Not at all. They all feel the same.”
“No, surely one must feel at least slightly more comfortable than the others?”
“I’m asking you because I don’t feel any difference at all…”
She narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him.
“Be honest.”
“…About what?”
“You don’t know either, do you?”
“No…”
Coughing awkwardly, Noah turned his body.
“Then let’s do a special lesson today.”
“Special?”
“Yes. A special lesson to find your attribute.”
“Oooh!” Lucillea’s eyes sparkled and she hopped excitedly.
“Hurry, hurry!”
Noah stretched his hand toward the wall of the training room.
Sweeping his palm across, the entire scenery began to change.
“Huh!” Lucillea gasped.
What had been a simple classroom with desks transformed into a true training ground.
The wooden flooring vanished instantly, replaced by a colossal circular arena of solid basalt.
Ancient-looking runes glowed faintly across the floor, linked to a transparent hemispherical barrier enveloping the arena.
The ceiling disappeared, revealing not the real sky but a magical, simulated one.
On one side, a fiery altar with rivers of molten lava; on the opposite, a massive waterfall crashing into an unfathomable lake.
Another side bore sharp crystalline stone pillars—the earth altar—while opposite, a swirling tempest lifted floating rocks into the air—the wind altar.
Each altar radiated the overwhelming aura of its attribute.
This was no longer a classroom.
It was a godly coliseum, an overwhelming, majestic space built only for chosen ones to unleash their powers without restraint.
Lucillea gawked, her mouth hanging open.
“Wow…!”
She turned to Noah with awed eyes.
“Teacher… you really are a wizard!”
“…Why does that sound like an insult?”
“It’s a compliment!”
“…Thaaanks,” he replied dryly with a cough.
“Anyway!”
Noah stretched out his hand, light flashing briefly as a long staff materialized in his grip.
“Whoa! That’s your staff?!”
Her eyes went round.
“Yeah. First time seeing one?”
“Yes!”
“Oh? Really?”
Surprised by her answer, Noah posed with exaggerated flourish so she could see better.
His staff gleamed like it had been carved from the currents of the deep sea, a translucent blue glow rippling across it.
At its tip was a pearl that shimmered with an unearthly luster, mist curling around it like a haze.
It was imposing, beautiful, and cold as the ocean.
Lucillea stared at it, then glanced at her own pitiful wand that looked like a rotten twig.
A sigh escaped her lips.
“I want that staff…” she muttered sulkily.
“No.” Noah cut her off immediately.
“Why not?! Yours looks amazing, and mine looks like… this! It’s not fair!”
“That wand suits you.”
“Wow! You say that so firmly! If you’re so decisive about this, why can’t you decide my attribute?!”
She pouted.
“That’s for you to choose.”
Noah smirked mischievously.
“Hmph!” Lucillea stomped toward the center of the arena.
“Do I stand here?”
“Yes.”
Noah swung his staff lightly, and the runes on the arena floor flared brighter.
Threads of elemental energy streamed from the four altars, gathering at the center.
Those distinct energies swirled around Lucillea’s small frame.
“Now, close your eyes,” Noah said seriously.
“Don’t think about any attribute. Focus only on your own mana, the pure source within you.”
Lucillea shut her eyes and concentrated.
Ignoring the forces circling her, she turned inward, focusing only on the quiet mana flowing deep near her heart.
“Perceive, focus, attune.”
Noah’s basic, instinctive teaching echoed in her mind. She gripped her wand tightly.
Suddenly, a pale-green light began to seep from it.
Vvmmm—!
Lucillea’s entire body glowed with that light.
Noah frowned.
This energy… he’d never felt anything like it.
It wasn’t tied to any attribute. It was pure, primal life force.
Shock drained the color from his face.
“What in the world is this…”
Then, the light surrounding Lucillea rippled outward.
It stretched toward all four altars simultaneously.
The altars responded violently.
The lava blazed fiercer, the waterfall surged into a tidal wave, the stone pillars thrust higher into the sky, and the winds spun into a devastating tornado.
It was resonance.
For centuries, the altars had stood unchanged, yet now they hungrily absorbed Lucillea’s mana like living things.
“Lucillea! Stop! Withdraw your mana!”
“….”
Useless. She was no longer in control.
Noah swung his staff, unleashing his own mana to suppress hers.
“Lucillea! Snap out of it!”
His energy pushed hers back little by little.
But this was dangerously close to mana rampage.
No—this was mana rampage.
“Damn it!”
He couldn’t hesitate any longer.
Layering multiple water shields around himself, Noah dove straight into the storm of green light and seized her.
“Wake up, brat!”
The moment he embraced her—
BOOOOM!
A deafening blast erupted.
The clash of two forces that should never collide.
Noah was hurled like paper, slammed into the arena wall.
Silence followed.
The winds, lava, stones, and waves—all vanished, leaving only dust.
For a moment, nothing moved.
Then the dust settled, revealing Noah slumped against the wall.
“Ugh… I’m dying here…”
Cough, cough. Blood dripped from his lips, but his arms still held Lucillea tightly.
Tasting iron, he grimaced—how long had it been since he’d last been injured? But his only thought was for the girl in his arms.
“Kid!”
He looked down.
Lucillea was unconscious, limp, but seemingly unharmed.
“Phew…”
Relief washed over him.
Her runaway mana had quieted, as though it had never happened.
“What an unpredictable brat.”
Noah raked a hand through his hair and muttered inwardly.
“Looks like I’ve really gotten myself stuck with this one…”
A troublesome, dangerous, utterly willful disciple—
and he was bound to her, firmly.
