Chapter 22: The wind prodigy

Larius was a very proud man. He was the youngest teacher in the entire academy. He managed to reach the seventh rank of control by the age only thirty one! That was even faster than the principal in his age. He was widely acknowledged as the number one genius in wind magic. The highest rank of control was ten and it was that rank that supposedly will let you cast spells without having to invoke them.

Rank ten control was equivalent to rank ten cultivation. One lets you use all the wind and air around you freely controlling the elemental energy. The other gave you perfect control over it bending the resulting spells completely to your will. Those were legends yes but Larius was determined to reach that stage. The principal had reached the highest rank of control thought possible at the moment: rank nine.

But Larius was sure that it was possible to go beyond that. In the first place one should be able not having to rely on spirits to cast magic. Otherwise what was the point of giving humans magic in the first place? So while studying all aspects of wind magic two years ago he accepted the post as a teacher.

Being a teacher at the royal academy basically gave you the status of a noble and it was a high honor. And Larius was since he had started considered one of the best teachers. But in all his years as a teacher or as a student he had never met such a bold pupil. That young man clad in black seemed completely uninterested! You could even say he had an air of boredom around him.

For some reason that annoyed Larius to no end. He even openly admitted that he didn’t listen! So Larius thought that a little lesson in respect was essential. He had heard about a young man who had never seen before powers in wind magic and Larius could easily make the connection. Only the gifted could be so arrogant. So he thought a little lesson now is essential. Mages should not be conceited.

So when he heard that the young man did not listen to the spell he had taught the class, a simple spell that would make a slight wind blow through the room, he thought that would be the perfect opportunity to teach that brat a lesson and at the same time show the class how important it was to be attentive and not make mistakes.

Wrong incarnations or bad use of them could lead to disaster. But Larius was confident that he could contain any mistake that someone in the beginners class would make. So when he asked that particular student for a demonstration he expected anything: excuses, apologies etc. but absolutely not him answering calmly:

“Sure. What do you want me to do?” How far did this guy's arrogance go? He gave that student some face by not specifying his request meaning that if he knew some kind of spell he could use it. It was very unlikely that he knew a spell that would work but it was not impossible.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

But even asking him for something specific. So Larius seemingly unfazed but smiling inside answered: “How about some levitation?” Levitation was the basics of flying. It required at least the seventh rank of control because you did not just need to know the invocation but you needed to understand the flow of wind and what air resistance was.

Without that knowledge one could not use this spell. Because even after releasing the spell one would have to keep it up using very precise mana and elemental power control. You had to get a feeling as in to where to increase the amount of mana as to not fall or where to decrease it as to not fly off and get hurt when coming back down. But he got surprised again.

“Well fine, just a quick question: What’s the highest rank of control and what do you have to do to earn that rank?” Now Larius got really angry. There was a limit to arrogance. But he kept his cool: “That would be rank ten. It would require you to control your magic without using spells.”

And then something happened that made his mind go blank. Because that young man who seemed no older than seventeen, in fact Larius knew that he was fifteen, walked towards the front. What made everyone present shocked to the state that not a single sound could be heard within the classroom was:

He walked through the air. He didn’t utter a single word before getting up walking towards the first step down but instead of going down he just walked on! He walked until he was a meter in front and two meters above Larius looking down: “So what do you think? Does that qualify me to rank ten?”

Larius could not think of anything to say. He just opened his mouth and…. closed it again. What do you say when something from legends casually appears in front of you. The young man sighed and said:

“I take that as a yes. You said a demonstration and an introduction right? Well my name is Asura, I am fifteen years old and to be honest, I don’t think I will learn more useful things here. Hence I will be leaving first.”

With those words he floated down to the ground. Larius was still unable to utter a word. His mind just could not comprehend what he had just seen. That boy no that prodigy named Asura made his way to the door. Before leaving as if reminded of something he turned around.

“Sensei, do you know which room in the dorms i have?” That somehow woke Larius up but you could tell he was still in shock otherwise he would absolutely have more to say then:

 “Just ask the dorm mother she will show you the way.” He then bowed, said: “Thank you Sensei.” and left.

That was the day when people started calling Asura the wind prodigy.

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Thanks to user bonifide for the awesome idea of the spirits teaching Asura magic. I loved it! Anyway 23 is in the making as well and will be released tonight. But 23 is rather long so it will take a while. Until then enjoy chapter 22! :)