A huge plantation stretches to the horizon, and in the middle of the field, a little and simple house hides. Rose walks towards it, passing through the natural scenery and plantations, being careful not to step in any growing bud, moving herself the way she learned from a young age. When she arrives at the house and opens the small wooden door, there is no one inside, her parents are no longer there... she runs towards her village with all the strength she can produce and without the same care she was walking before, the distance is long but she needs to reach it. When she arrives at the small village, where just over 200 people lived, everyone... everyone is dead, the man who sold fresh fruit together with his wife, the florist who always praised her and said she was the flower of the village, the horse keeper who taught her how to ride and tend to her animals' injuries, all... all dead... there is no more a drop of life in their eyes, even with healing magic it would be impossible to save any of them.
In the center of the village, where there is a water well that all the inhabitants shared, there are two more bodies among many. Rose is immediately able to identify them, and even with so much distance between them she can tell them apart, after all, these are the first two people she remembers seeing in her life, the people she loves and cares about the most, her parents. Even though it's useless, even though she knows almost nothing about it, Rose tries to use healing magic on them, but nothing happens, their wounds don't close, their bodies don't recover the heat they once had... they're dead and there's nothing she can do but cry.
“I failed you, Dad... Mom…”
Rose then opens her eyes and sees her bedroom ceiling in Asteris' academy.
“A nightmare?”
She wipes the tears from her eyes, but they don't stop falling, the memories of that nightmare are so intense they almost cause her pain. The war lies to the north, in the same direction as her village, if the empire's army fails her village will be on the battlefield.
What is your goal?
She starts to remember the words of that mysterious teacher that she had known for almost two weeks now.
Why are you here? To train for 7 years and die in a stupid war?
“No! I cannot die in any war!”
What is your goal?
“My goal? My goal is...”
Before she can finish her sentence, there is a knock on her door, Rose is startled and gets up immediately.
“Rose? It's Frederica, you're going to be late, there's 5 minutes to class.”
“AH! Sorry Frederica, you can go alone, I'll be a little late!”
“It is all right, I'll wait for you, he never arrives on time.”
“Ok! Give me 5 minutes!”
Rose then hurries to get dressed as quickly as possible.
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
“You two are late.”
When both arrive in the class, Yukiko receives them commenting on their delay.
“Do you choose today to be punctual? You must be kidding me...”
“Hum?”
“It's nothing, teacher. Sorry!”
Both girls bow to apologize.
“It's my fault teacher, I lost track of time and delayed Frederica!”
“It's okay, you can go to your seats, I just arrived too.”
“And you were criticizing us?!”
Yukiko responds to Frederica’s indignation with a laugh and starts the theory class. All through class, Rose can't stop thinking about her dream, about how she was unable to protect her parents, her village, and how she lost them all. She had never felt such dread and despair in her entire life.
“Rose, are you ok?”
Elia, noticing Rose's strange behavior, tries to inquire about her friend.
“Oh yes, I'm fine Elia, don't worry, I just had a bad dream today and that's why I'm a little thoughtful.”
“Got it, if you're not feeling well let me know.”
“Right, thank you!”
Meanwhile, Yukiko continues with the class.
“As we saw yesterday with Roxy, there are many ways a spell can manifest and countless changes you can do to make your spell more suitable depending on your situation. Now let's talk a little about advantages and disadvantages, Frederica can you explain the basics about the 4 elements of composition?”
“Yes sir, every composition element has its advantages and disadvantages, the water element for example is traditionally the weakest among them in terms of offense power, but it has the second-best defense and is the only composition element capable of using healing spells. The Earth element has the highest defense and considerable attack, but they are the spells with the highest consumption in terms of mana and have the slowest activation and formation time. The wind element has the fastest activating spells, has a considerable attack, and has the lowest mana consumption. The fire element has the highest offensive and destructive capacity, the second-best activation time and it is the second most efficient element in terms of mana consumption. In addition, every element has an enlarger and destroyer, which are elements that can increase its effectiveness or decrease their effectiveness, if we think of the fire element, for example, the wind is the oxidizer for its strength, and because of that the wind element is capable of increasing the effectiveness of a fire spell, so using a wind spell against a fire spell is a bad strategy. Since water can extinguish the fire, a water spell has a high chance of destroying a fire spell if we are dealing with spells of the same level. Thus, the order of destroyers is Fire-Wind-Earth-Water, that is, fire destroys wind, wind destroys earth, earth destroys water and water destroys fire. It's a simple concept, but it makes a big difference on a battlefield.”
“Excellent explanation, Frederica.”
The discomfort among the nobles is evident, but no one makes any comment due to the perfection of Frederica's explanation. Yukiko then continues.
“We talked about the 4 elements of composition, what more manifestations of magic are there?”
“Light and Dark, sir?”
“Yes, these are opposite manifestations, but Light and Darkness make up the entire natural world, they are present in water, fire, earth, and air. What I ask is about the manifestation of magic, are the 4 elements of composition the only forms of manifestation there is?”
The room remains silent until Mia raises her hand and responds.
“Are you referring to Deviations?”
“Yes Mia, could you explain to the rest of the room what this is all about?”
In many students, it is possible to notice confusion and ignorance about this new topic.
“Deviations are derivations of a composition element, it is an extremely rare form of manifestation, a very small number of people are born with this ability and these people can use both the composition element they have an affinity for and the deviation of it.”
“What? Would a person be able to use two elements?”
Frederica questions Mia's explanation.
“It's not two elements, a deviation is still the same element in theory, it's just a different form of manifestation of that element.”
“Could you tell us the deviation of each element, Mia?”
“Yes, Professor. These are extremely rare situations, but my family has some theoretical documents about them. For fire, its deviation is lightning, for earth it is wood, for wind it is sound and for water it is ice. According to my family's notes, a mage with a Deviation is called a Deviant, and these situations are so rare that there are virtually no historical records of Deviant mages who performed feats of great impact.”
The entire room starts to argue again, for many this information is completely unknown.
“Something more?”
“Sorry teacher, but that's all I have.”
“Don't worry, it's already an impressive amount of knowledge on the subject. One important factor worth mentioning for you all is that deviations, unlike their compositing element forms, do not have a destroyer.”
“Hmm? You mean they don't have a weakness?”
Melina Moscon gets into the conversation.
“Exactly, the element's deviation does not have the weakness that the original element has, however, the deviation maintains its amplifier.”
“What? Do you mean to keep the advantages and discard the disadvantages? Isn't this too good to be true?”
“Sounds like a great deal, doesn't it? Well, that's why it's so rare.”
“Hmm, makes sense.”
“However, not everything is flowers, the deviant has a development difficulty, that's because while the mana particles of the composition elements are abundant and common in any environment, its forms of deviation are extremely rare and need to be constructed by the mage, which delays a deviant's recovery and training. In addition, using deviant spells requires an absurd amount of mana, as the environment lacks the presence of the deviant element particles.”
“Wow, so there are many disadvantages...”
“It's the price you pay for a power that defies natural law.”
The room continues to ponder the advantages and disadvantages of a deviation.
“And so, if you had to choose, which one do you think would be the most powerful deviation?”
Several students have opinions about Yukiko's question.
“Electricity sounds really cool! Shooting rays of your hands!”
“Sound looks interesting, must be something quite different.”
“I can't imagine a combat use for wood that is more useful than a rock...”
Meanwhile, Mia looks at her desk as she contemplates the possibilities.
“What do you think would be the most powerful deviation, Mia?”
Yukiko directly asks the student that was lost in her inquiries, after a while of thinking, Mia answers.
“The most powerful I do not know, but the scariest, from what I have read, I can only think of one.”
“And what would be it?”
“Ice.”
“Hmm... why?”
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
All the attention is directed to Mia at this moment.
“When I think about the elements and their deviations, they all seem like a natural evolution of their element or at least something close to that. Lightning is a natural phenomenon and happens everywhere in the world, Sound is also present in the entire natural world and we don't even need to comment on wood, right? But ice... any biome taken over by ice is a lifeless biome, no species is able to survive if the conditions of the place are too cold, flowers don't grow, people lose their heat, and the sun itself is obstructed. While the other elements and deviations seem to be part of the natural world, Ice seems to be a negation of it.”
When Mia finishes her explanation, all the students are staring at her, not knowing what to say. Yukiko too continues to stare at her without saying anything.
“Did I say something that doesn't make sense teacher? My reasoning could be completely wrong.”
“No, your reasoning is correct. I have to agree with it, if I had to put it into words, without a doubt of all the elements of composition and deviations, ice is the most... disgusting one.”
Rose then notices Yukiko's expression changing and she tries to comprehend it, disgust might not be the best description of his expression at that moment, but rather sadness. She remembers all the similar expressions her father has ever shown her, expressions of when he had told stories from his past, of times when he had failed to act, stories of regret. Again, she can visualize some mana particles dancing around Yukiko, as if they were corresponding to his feelings of grief and pain, at this moment Rose feels her face getting warmer, but doesn't understand why.
“Rose, are you all right?”
“Hmm? I am, Elia.”
“But you're crying...”
“Hmm?”
When touching her face Rose can feel the tears that were running down, embarrassed she tries to dry them quickly, but the tears do not stop flowing. When some people around her start to notice.
“All right! Let's talk now about whether a Silver would be able to face a Gold, what do you think?”
Yukiko breaks the silence with a random question and a slightly louder and more intense tone of voice than he actually uses, but due to the characteristics of the question, all the children are automatically drawn to it.
“It would be impossible!”
The first to comment something is Louis Blondy, everyone then focuses their attention on her who is across the room. Rose quickly seeks to wipe her tears with the help of Frederica and Elia.
“Ranks exist to evaluate a mage's power, a Gold Rank mage would never lose to a Silver Rank mage.”
“You seem to be very sure of that, so let me ask you something, do you know Professor Maicon Moscon?”
“Yes, the teacher of Magical Arts.”
“So, everyone knows his rank?”
“Yes, he is a Wind Gold 2 mage.”
“Exactly, then let me ask you this, a dispute between him and Professor Roxy, who do you think would be the winner?”
Louis can't answer the question this time, not only her, but it seems that the whole room is thoughtful, at that moment Rose had already managed to calm down, and Yukiko then continues.
“Undoubtedly a higher Rank offers an advantage, but your previous statement is not completely correct Miss Louis. A Rank does not exist to rank mages, but the cores of mages, which no doubt can provide an idea of the mage's powers, but we cannot think exclusively from this point. In this hypothetical dispute, for example, Professor Roxy is younger and therefore has a superior physical condition, she has been in the army recently so she is more used to conflicts, and in addition, her element is fire, which would provide an advantage for her against the opponent. Are you sure you would bet on the higher rank mage?”
Everyone remains quiet and pondering the situation.
“I would bet on Roxy even against a Gold Rank 1 wind mage.”
“Two more ranks?! Isn't that an exaggeration?”
“No, most teachers at this academy are old and haven't seen action for a long time, not to mention that they had a golden cradle and believe they are superior to everyone, so they would underestimate someone of lower rank. Professor Roxy has a huge reserve of mana and has a lot of strategic capability, it would be difficult, but I believe she would be able to win in the end.”
Many students were offended by the claim of the golden cradle, but they don't doubt Professor Roxy's ability.
“Following that logic then.”
The one asking now is Frederica.
“Would a Gold 1 mage be able to face a Holder?”
Yukiko smiles at that question.
“I like cheeky questions like that, what do you think?”
“It would be impossible.”
Mia answers immediately.
“And why, Mia?”
“A Holder is a mage who has transcended the limits of the mana core, comparing an Intimus with a Holder would be impossible, in the same way that it would be to compare a Ruler with a Saint, they are mages who walk in different worlds.”
Many students listen to Mia with surprise, while information about the Intimus Rank is common knowledge, the other 5 major Ranks are fraught with mysteries, every mage capable of transcending Gold Rank 1 and becoming a Holder is considered a priceless treasure for the empire. In a war, mages above Intimus Rank are used in missions of high importance. Even in the Asteris academy, in the entire faculty, there is not a single mage above Gold Rank 1, except the academy director who willingly chose to take that position. In an empire that has gone through wars for decades, powerful mages are priceless and couldn't be wasted teaching at an academy, the only reason Maria Rosefold can make that decision is that Saints receive so much respect that even the emperor is obliged to grant them wishes and positions so that the empire can keep them in its territory.
“Transcended the limits of the mana core?”
A student close to Mia comments curiously about this information. Mia then looks at Yukiko as if asking permission to continue.
“Give more details, Mia. The Rosenfolds are one of the oldest families in the empire, so I'm sure you can contribute a lot.”
“Yes sir, but maybe I can't contribute much, what I know is information that mages who transcend the Intimus Rank are no longer limited by their own mana core, and that makes them way more powerful, but I can't understand much beyond that.”
Mia then looks at Yukiko awaiting more information from the teacher. The other students do the same.
“Hmm, it's rare the situations where the whole room shows so much interest. I'm even moved by all of you looking at me that way.”
Some of the kids start to get annoyed by his remarks.
“Very well, what would be the limitations that a core of mana causes to the mage?”
“I never imagined it as a limitation... the mana core is what allows us to use magic.”
Muher Iris is the first to answer.
“Yes, but if our only source of mana is our internal mana, then we are always limited to spells that our mana core can feed, if a spell requires more mana than our core holds, it would be impossible to use it.”
“Makes sense... but isn't that the point of expanding the core with training?”
“Yes, but at this point, we are talking about low-Rank spells, there are spells that their invocation would require much more mana than any reserve of any human being can hold.”
“Are there spells like that? Wouldn't that be unbelievable? Gold Rank 1 spells are capable of destroying armies and they utilize their internal mana to do so.”
“Unbelievable… isn't that why we're talking about Holder Rank?”
“It makes sense.”
“It's no exaggeration to say that a Holder could destroy a city in the blink of an eye if they so wished for. This is the level of a mage that doesn't just depend on his mana reserves.”
The entire class swallows hard at this statement, a power capable of destroying a city is something that never crossed the minds of these students.
“So, what would the higher Ranks be capable of?”
The questioner is Mia, clearly interested in the opportunity to learn more about this subject, about the pinnacle of magic. Yukiko continues.
“Before answering, the question was about transcending the mana core. Mages classified as Intimus are among the few humans capable of using magic and have an affinity with an element, in the body of these mages there is a phenomenon called the core of mana, capable of storing reserves of mana particles, which are at the disposal and control of these mages. At this point, I ask you, when we run out of this reserve, as you did yesterday, how is it recovered?”
“During rest, our body can filter and recover mana particles from the environment by storing them in our core, the purer our core is, the better the filtering becomes and so we end up absorbing more particles of our affinity element.”
“Exactly, so why use the mana particles of our core if the biggest reserve of all is found around all of us, in the environment?”
Yukiko opens his arms as if he is embracing the world to gesture his explanation.
“That's... because it's impossible, we can't just use the particles from the environment as we wish, our body does the process of filtration and absorption naturally.”
Everyone agrees with Mia's statement, it is common knowledge that it is not possible to use particles from the environment, such a process would involve controlling nature.
“This is the meaning of transcending the mana core, for an Intimus their only reserve of mana is their inner core, a Holder can utilize the mana particles of the environment to channel their spells.”
“Is a Holder able to control nature itself?”
“Not exactly, he can borrow its power, and in exchange, he provides an amount of his own mana, so his powers are not infinite either, but compared to Intimus it is a difference that can be compared with the distance between the sky and earth. Thus, the previous information was correct, an Intimus would never be able to face a Holder, regardless of element, experience, or age.”
“I've never heard so much about this subject... if that's the case, Professor Yuki, how powerful are the next Ranks?”
All the students swallow hard after this question, as they are all children, the idea of a world completely different from their own, with beings more powerful than they could imagine fills them with awe.
“Hahaha, are you not wanting to advance things too much? Not even in the Silver world have you reached your feet yet. I've never seen so much attention in my classes.”
“Sorry teacher, we were just too curious.”
“It's ok, kids must be curious, but for today it's all about that, trying to explain to you how powerful a Saint is would be like explaining to a child who has never even seen a lake how big is the ocean. For now, strive to improve your power.”
“Understood!”
For the first time, the whole class answers him together and with determination. The noble students when realizing this are frustrated, but they had to admit it, this type of information is something that not even in their families would have easy access to, this man is without a doubt someone with a lot of knowledge.
“Now I will leave you in the hands of Professor Roxy, you can go to that shed, she is waiting for you there.”
Yukiko watches his students leave one by one, at the end, Rose's group, which lately had Mia's presence, passes by.
“Rose, can you stay for a minute?”
“Hmm? Yes sir.”
Yukiko calls Rose and asks her to stay a little longer, her friends became curious, but they say goodbye and continue to practical classes.
“Do you need something, Professor Yukiko?”
“It's everything ok?”
“Hmm?”
“You were crying earlier during class.”
“Oh, yes, I'm sorry teacher, it won't happen again.”
Rose immediately bows.
“Why are you apologizing?”
“Hmm?”
“I asked if everything is ok, you don’t need to apologize for crying, Rose.”
“Ah, I thought you would criticize me, as we are mages, I know we shouldn't show our weakness that way so-”
Before she could continue Rose felt a hand on her head, for a moment she was scared, but then she felt that there were no aggressive intentions in this gesture.
“You are not soldiers, you are children, and every child has the right to cry when they are sad, Rose.”
Rose then lifts her face and looks up, finally meeting her teacher's eyes. Yukiko meets her with a smile, but not the same one he uses in class to play with his students, he shows a calm, attentive, comfortable smile. At that moment a memory flashes through her head, from when she was still a little girl playing in her village.
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
“Rose, did you get home?”
“I arrived.”
A small girl enters the house while crying lightly.
“What happened, my dear?”
“I tripped and fell, Dad.”
“Oh, come here I'll make a bandage.”
“Ok...”
“Stay still, here, is it still hurting?”
“No! It got better, did you use magic, Daddy?”
“Yes! I may have not learned much, but your father is capable of a lot!”
“Thank you!”
Her father then puts his hand on her head and starts to caress her, due to this procedure being common, Rose just looks up and smiles.
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Rose remembers that feeling, as Yukiko rubs her head, it may have only been 2 weeks, but this time away from her family and combined with an environment of nobles who don't accept her presence must have been suffocating. She was not prepared for an environment so hostile to her simple existence.
His presence is really cozy... what the hell... I think I'm going to cry.
Rose then starts to sob and tears run down her face, all the while she cried, for a few minutes, Yukiko continued to rub her head with the same smile on his face without telling her to stop at any point. After finally calming down a bit and starting to wipe away her tears with her hands, Yukiko offers her a handkerchief.
“Thanks...”
“Have you calmed down a bit?”
“Yes.”
“Good, is there a problem with some students?”
“No, they are not friendly, but I have no problem with that, I have my friends.”
“Frederica, Elia and Mia?”
“Yes. I was very scared of not being able to make friends here, but I already found three of them, three very precious ones.”
“I see, that is great! Do you miss your home, then?”
“Yes...”
“I understand, your parents must be very warm people, for you to miss them that much.”
“Yes, they are.”
“Rose.”
“Hmm?”
Again, she meets Yukiko's eyes, who keeps the same smile.
“Unfortunately, loneliness is something we need to learn to deal with alone, but sadness is not. You have friends and a place to go back to, you are not alone, and if you have any difficulties I will be here. It is a teacher's job to help his students.”
Rose stares at this man, she can see absolute resilience in his eyes.
“Hmm, thank you, teacher.”
“Your eyes are really blue.”
Yukiko starts to laugh and then Rose notices that their faces are less than a palm apart, she immediately turns red and jumps back.
“Ah! I'm sorry!”
“Don't worry, Professor Roxy's class has already started, you better go.”
As she was about to leave, Rose remembered the question Yukiko had asked the entire room, as a condition for him to train them directly in the area of magic.
What is your goal?
My goal? What I want is... to go to war as a medical mage and earn money to support my parents? Yes, I want to help my parents, but would that be my answer to his question? If I die in the war what would happen? Fatalities are extremely common in a war of this proportions, if I die on the front lines 7 years from now, the enemy would invade the northern region of the empire, the region where my village is and everything would have been in vain, but then what do I do? What do I need to protect them? In this world, with my simple origins, there is only one thing that I can aim for.
Rose then stops at the classroom door.
There is something I need… my goals were too innocent. There is only one way for me to go, there is only one thing I must do to protect them.
Rose then turns around and finds Yukiko's face again, now a little confused that she has come back.
“Do you need something, Rose?”
And I feel... that this man can help me achieve that.
“Professor Yukiko.”
“Hmm?”
“You said that we would need to give you a goal that satisfies you so that you would accept us as students and train us.”
Yukiko then acquires a serious expression and looks her firmly in the eyes.
“Yes, do you want to officially become my student, Rose?”
“Yes.”
“And what's your goal?”
There's only one answer to that, there's only one thing I can get to protect them, and that's...
“Power.”
Yukiko continues to stare directly at her.
“And why do you need power?”
Why? My motive is simple, it comes from a silly fear, a fear of losing someone precious to me. Will it be enough? Is my resolution enough to convince you? Regardless of whether it is or not, I only have one reason.
“To protect those who are precious to me.”
Yukiko continues to stare at her for a few seconds, for Rose these moments seem eternal, hours seem to pass while she waits for her teacher's answer. Then, Yukiko finally speaks.
“Very well, I accept and respect your objective. I will help you to obtain the power that you seek, Rose.”
Yukiko then smiles, an answer that Rose doesn't seem to believe, she smiles back and bows soon after.
“Thank you!”
And so, Yukiko gets his long-sought first student, a small girl with blue eyes.