“So, what do you think of Sell, Adion?” Rufus asked with a smirk. The team were all having breakfast together at the inn just like they had every morning during the past week, ever since they got to Lermen.

“She’s very talented,” Adion said.

“She’s also the same girl you stared at during the auction, no?” Rufus asked, smiling.

“I guess. She has a very good aura sense, so be careful what you say around her, as she can probably tell if you’re honest or not,” Adion said, trying to change the subject. “Or at least try to keep your aura under control. You’ve practiced it a lot during the past months, after all.”

“We’ll keep it in mind,” Sahra said, “I’m just glad I met you before meeting her. Otherwise, I’d be too shocked by her strength to act normal yesterday.”

“That was normal?” Rufus asked.

“I was super casual,” Sahra said, “You know she’s probably from a Noble family, right?”

“She probably is, but since she didn’t say anything about it, I guess we can act like nothing, right?” Rufus asked.

“That’s right,” Sahra said, “And there is always a small chance that she is a random freak like Adion. Could you imagine the horror of being polite to Adion, thinking he was Noble? I would die of shame.”

“That’s true,” Rufus nodded thoughtfully.

“Why be polite just because someone is a Noble?” Adion asked.

“To not get killed,” Sahra said with a shrug, “It isn’t likely, but you never know.”

“Mm,” Rufus nodded, “It’s a mistake you don’t get to make twice. Family clans are different; the ego isn’t that high, at least not toward Silver mages, but Nobles are in a league of their own.”

“Will it be like that at Cyalis Academy?” Adion asked, worried.

“Not quite,” Sahra comforted, “Not even the Royals dare offend Cyalis, so the Nobles can’t act however they want there, but the differences in status is still something very palpable.”

“Haaah,” Adion sighed, “I’ll just stay away from the Nobles until I become a Soul mage.”

“Haha,” Rufus chuckled, “I believe that’s wise.”

“By the way,” Benji said, “You’re sure you’re fine with a stranger joining us for today’s hunt, right, Adion?”

“Yeah, it’s fine,” Adion said, “I will have to be able to fight while pretending to be a fire mage eventually anyway, so this will be good practice.”

“But you’ll also use that freeze-thing and say it’s a Gift eventually, right?” Rufus asked, “Will you fight using the ‘Gift’ around Sell as well?”

“No,” Adion shook his head, “She might tell her family clan or some organization, and we’ll have to run off to somewhere else again. I can’t be bothered with that until I get to Cyalis and get some protection as a student there.”

“Hmm,” Lomin sounded.

“What?” Adion asked.

“Knowing you, you’ll probably reveal your ‘Gift’ eventually,” Lomin said.

“What? Why would I do that?” Adion asked.

“You’re careless,” Sahra said.

“You won’t be able to hold yourself back from impressing a pretty girl,” Rufus said.

“You do have a tendency to show off,” Benji nodded.

Adion just stared at his teammates in shock.

I’m not that careless, am I?

“That won’t happen,” Adion said.

“I guess we’ll see,” Rufus shrugged, “It will at least be nice to take a break from you teleporting all over the place.”

“You’ll thank me once I get the hang of it,” Adion said.

Adion had spent the week in Lermen trying to apply his teleportation during fights. It was still not near instantaneous enough to be of much use. Adion would never have dared practice it if he didn’t have his team there to back him up, and he only did it when they were a lot stronger than their opponents.

But at least he was starting to get used to teleporting in the heat of battle. If he could decrease the amount of time it took to pull it off, Adion would become even more deadly.

“Oh, looks like Sell was staying here too,” Benji said.

Everyone turned their heads to see where Benji was looking, and saw Sell coming down the stairs. She spotted them as well and walked up to their table.

“Good morning,” Sell said, “I guess we won’t have to meet up at the Outskirts Guild then. Are you ready to leave soon?”

“Yeah, I guess so,” Benji answered, “But don’t you want to have breakfast first?”

“I already ate earlier,” Sell responded.

“Alright then, is everyone ready?” Benji asked the team.

They all nodded and got up from their seats.

“Let’s go hunt some beasts then,” Benji said with a smile.

They all made their way out of the inn. Adion was watching as Sahra tried to make conversation with Sell. It seemed a little awkward.

Probably not used to the Sahra’s casualness if she’s a Noble. Or maybe she’s just nervous. She’s just a Bronze mage, after all, about to fight Silver beasts. But she should be pretty strong. I wonder what her fire looks like.

“You said you were a fire mage, Adion?” Sell turned around and asked just as they left the outpost, bringing Adion out of his thoughts.

“Mm,” Adion nodded.

“Then why are you hiding it?” Sell asked, squinting her eyes.

She can feel that I’m hiding my element? Just how good is her aura sense? Why would she focus on sensing elements?

Adion saw his teammates exchanging worried glances, but Adion didn’t think it was something to worry about. He could act as a fire mage well enough to fool people even if they knew he hid his element in his aura.

“Why would you waste your time practicing how to sense other people’s elements?” Adion asked. It was very strange to him.

“Why would you waste your time practicing to hide yours?” Sell asked back.

“Well, I managed to hide it from you, so it seems my time isn’t as wasted as yours,” Adion said with a small smirk.

“Whatever,” Sell said and looked away. The group continued walking, and Adion overheard Rufus making a bet with Benji and Sahra on how long it would take for him to reveal something by showing off. No one betted that he would last more than a week.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

I might not care much about hiding every little detail about my abilities. It seems insignificant when compared to killing a Diamond mage and robbing a branch of Heavenly Light, after all. But it’s not like I’m completely careless.

“So, what family are you from?” Sell asked soon after dropping the subject of his element.

“You wouldn’t know it. It’s just a 2nd-tier family clan,” Adion answered.

“Impossible!” Sell yelled out in shock, “No one in a family like that could teach you aura control at that level.”

“Well, it’s the truth,” Adion shrugged.

“I don’t believe you,” Sell said.

“Then what do you believe?” Adion asked.

“You’re probably from the Imperial family,” Sell concluded, “It’s the only thing that makes sense.”

“‘It’s the only thing that makes sense’?” Adion asked, “Then you should be the princess of Iitha, no?”

Sell stumbled on her step and looked at Adion in shock, “I…”

“You actually are?” Adion asked, a little surprised. He had only guessed that might be the case because of her abilities and her own deduction that someone with Adion’s abilities in aura had to come from the Imperial family. He also thought her looks fit the image of a princess he had in his mind.

“How did you know?” Sell asked, giving up trying to hide it.

“I just guessed. I didn’t know you would give it away so easily,” Adion said with an amused smile.

What’s the point of having aura control at that level if you're so easy to crack?

“I-” Adion was about to say something but lost his words as he saw his teammates stop walking and bowing slightly to Sell, awkward smiles on their faces. Their eyes seemed to dart around the surroundings.

“What are you doing?” Adion asked.

“Sorry for the disrespect, your highness,” Benji said, clearly uncomfortable.

“She’s still just a Bronze mage. Calm down, everyone,” Adion said, confused at their sudden shift in attitude.

“Hehe,” Rufus chuckled, still with a slight bow and his eyes down, “Adion, you should probably be a little more respectful. This isn’t a normal family clan. There’s probably a Soul mage watching.”

A Soul mage is watching?

Adion focused on his sphere of space mana to try and sense if he might have missed someone, but he couldn’t sense anything off.

Can a Soul mage somehow thwart my space sense? I don’t think so.

“There’s no one around 300 feet of us at least,” Adion said. He didn’t get why they were so ready to go fight a Diamond mage, but the thought of a Soul mage being around made them act like this.

“Is there a Soul mage following, Sell?” Adion decided to ask.

“Er…” Sell hesitated. She looked at the others bowing, a little uncomfortable, “I’m not sure. It wouldn’t temper my Will as well if I fought on the Outskirts while knowing I had a Soul mage for protection.”

“Then they’ll probably not show even if they are here,” Adion said, “So stop acting so weird.”

“Adion…” Benji awkwardly smiled.

“It’s fine, really,” Sell tried to explain, “It usually gets a little awkward, and that’s why I didn’t want to say something about my background, but you can act just like before.”

“Hahaha!” Suddenly, Sahra burst out laughing, “I’m sorry. But Sell, you might be as bad at keeping a secret as Adion.”

“Hahaha!” Rufus started laughing, too, “She just admitted it straight away.”

“Guys…” Benji looked at his teammates with a helpless expression.

“Oh, relax, Benji. Sell said to act like before, so let’s not pay it any mind and get going,” Sahra said.

“Haaah,” Benji sighed, his eyes still on the surroundings, “I guess. Let’s go then.”

“But I don’t understand. Surely Adion has a similar background?” Sell asked.

“I already said I’m from a 2nd-tier family clan,” Adion said.

“It’s true,” Sahra said, “He’s just a freak.”

“I would call it ‘hard-working,’” Adion said.

“No, freak sounds about right,” Sahra shrugged.

“So how can you have such good aura control? Where did you learn it?” Sell pushed.

“Secret,” Adion said.

“Hmm,” Sell mused, scrutinizing Adion with her red eyes, “So you might be from a 2nd-tier family, but a Soul mage has been your teacher. Because you’re talented? Or something is special about your element? That was why someone so powerful took the time to teach you and why you focused on hiding your element. It also explains why you didn’t react much to there being a Soul mage around. Did I get it right?”

What the hell? Not exactly right, but pretty damn close.

“No,” Adion said, but his voice came out a little unnaturally.

“You really are bad at lying,” Sell said with a smirk.

“I don’t know why people keep saying that. I’m actually pretty good at it,” Adion said. He had even managed to sneak his way into Heavenly Light and kill a Diamond mage. He never actually lied, of course, but he never got caught in his deceit.

“You’re good at predicting and playing to people’s expectations,” Sahra said, “Not good at lying.”

Is that so? She might be right.

“So, who is this Soul mage teacher?” Sell asked, curiosity obvious in her eyes.

“I never said I was taught by a Soul mage,” Adion denied.

“I thought we established that you’re bad at lying,” Sell said, “I had the decency to admit to my background as soon as I was discovered.”

“You admitted to it way before you were discovered,” Adion said with a teasing smile.

Sell’s cheeks flushed slightly in embarrassment, “Whatever, will you admit it or not?”

“Why are you so-.” Adion was about to continue his defense but noticed four distinct shapes in his sphere of space mana, “Four beasts 300 feet in that direction.”

“Alright, get ready, everyone!” Beni yelled, “Sell, stay back for now, and don’t put yourself in danger.”

“Alright,” Sell agreed reluctantly.

“It seems to be two middle and two high Silvers,” Adion said as he felt the aura of the beasts.

“Sahra and I will take on the two high Silvers,” Benji said, “Lomin, Rufus, Adion, take care of the other two. Sell, just help out from a distance where it’s needed.”

The team spurred into action and ran to meet the beasts.

So no teleportation or freezing them in space…I’ll be pretty weak.

“I’ll be relying on you two in this fight,” Adion said.

“Leave it to us,” Rufus said, “Try to blind and distract them with your fire.”

“No problem,” Adion nodded and conjured a ball of fire from the surrounding pure mana. As the beasts got close, Adion fired the ball, split it in two, and aimed for the faces of the two beasts.

The beasts were Dark Grats, a beast resembling a giant rat and usually had the darkness element, making them extremely dangerous at night, even as Silvers. But it was still early in the morning, so the most dangerous part was still their strong bodies and sharp claws and teeth.

Adion’s fire hit, as usual. He had Authority over the fire, after all. He Willed the fire to burn and struggled to make it dig into the beasts’ bodies. Rufus helped disorient them with his earth magic, and Lomin cut them up with bursts of sharp wind.

Suddenly, a long pillar of fire flew over Adion’s head and toward one of the beasts. The fire looked almost like a giant snake as it weaved its way forward, going extremely fast. As soon as the fire hit, the Dark Grats shrieked in pain in a much more intense way than when Adion hit them.

The fire…It's almost like it’s devouring their bodies. And at an incredible speed at that.

Adion quickly let go of his own fire with his Will and grabbed hold of the other fire. He felt how immensely packed with powerful concepts it was. Adion immediately controlled it with his Will and brought it down to dig into the two beasts’ skulls. With the powerful concepts and Adion’s Authority, the beasts didn’t last long.

“Did you just take control of my fire?” Sell asked, surprised.

“It’s so strong,” Adion said, still controlling the fire even as the beasts had died, “What concepts have you grasped? It’s like pure destruction… dismantling? What’s a good word?”

“Adion,” Sahra said as she walked over with a teasing smile, “You shouldn’t exhaust your Will so much. You’ve been controlling that flame for a while now.”

Damn, right.

Adion let go of the fire and tried to act a bit exhausted.

I didn’t hold it for that long, so it shouldn’t be too suspicious.

“Why is your flame so weak?” Sell asked, “Did you really not know about concepts until a few months ago?”

“Yeah, I managed to miss it somehow,” Adion waved off, “So what concepts have you grasped? Your fire is very powerful.”

Adion was genuinely impressed. It felt like he had understood more about fire in that short moment than all the time he had spent studying Benji’s fire combined.

“Secret,” Sell smiled.