“What’s going on?” Fausto asked.

“We have to pay taxes for a noble that lives nearby.” Roussel replied.

“Taxes for a noble nearby?” Fausto scratched his chin.

A loud yell came from outside, “ALRIGHT EVERYONE, PAY UP OR GET BEATEN!”

The henchmen went around to each house, demanding their pay.

Unsurprisingly, some people were beaten up since they couldn't meet their quota.

Knock. Knock.

“Oy! Roussel! Get your wood out here!” A man screamed outside of their house.

“Oh no, I was so busy searching for Astra these past couple of days that I haven’t met their quota.” Roussel whimpered.

Fausto opened the door.

“You’re not Roussel. Who are you?” The man outside threw a punch at Fausto.

“Hmph, stupid brutes.” Fausto retaliated with a kick to the man's abdomen. Astra could see slivers of blue strings crawling in and out of Fausto’s leg.

The man took twenty steps back and hunched over.

“BLARGGGGG!” The man started vomiting.

Astra stared at the man groaning. Fausto did not seem to be physically strong. Just how had he deliver the kick with such power?

The henchman’s mage noticed this scene and stared at Fausto.

“Another rebellion? I don’t recognize this guy. Your village hired a mercenary?” 

“Not that it matters…” The man put his arms out and a ball of wind came exploding towards Fausto.

“Elementary magic.” Fausto scoffed.

Fausto held his hand out to disperse the ball of wind.

Suddenly, Astra fired off a ball of wind and dispersed it himself.

The mage eyed Astra up and down, “A kid like you want to battle me? Come back in a couple of years, ha-ha.”

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The man immediately fired off several wind balls in succession.

Fausto stood behind Astra, “Show me what you can do.”

Astra nodded and fired off wind balls of his own.

Impossible! The mage was shocked. The child seemed no more than twelve years old and yet his mana capabilities were equal to his. How could a backwater village raise such a monster?

“Unbelievable!” The mage gasped. After a dozen exchanges, the mage quickly realized that Astra’s mana pool was much bigger than his.

The balls of wind collided and dispersed. He could no longer keep up the barrage of spells.

If the mage couldn’t win in a magic battle, he had to take it to melee combat.

The mage ran at Astra.

Noticing the mage was no longer firing off balls of wind but opted for a melee battle, Astra ran at him as well.

Even if he lost out in mana, the mage still had his grown up body. No way would a twelve year old best him in melee combat, the mage thought.

The mage began throwing out a barrage of punches at Astra.

Slow…The man was so slow! Astra dodged every single one of the mage’s punches with ease. Compared to the bloodthirsty wolves that ran at him in the forest, this mage was practically a tame dog.

The man sped up his punches in frustration.

Astra blocked several of the punches before the mage ran out of breath. Astra quickly finished the man off with a kick to the abdomen.

The mage was knocked away and tumbled for several meters before stopping.

Fausto walked up to the mage and threw a medallion at him, “This village now has relations with Ascelyn Academy.”

The mage’s eyes went wide as he heard the name Ascelyn Academy. He quickly took the medallion and ran off.

The henchmen scuttled away as they saw how disadvantageous their situation was.

And just like that, the mage was gone.

Darcy stepped out of the house, “What happened? Why did they leave so early?”

Roussel smiled at Darcy. “The tax collectors won’t be bothering us anymore.”

“That’s great!” Darcy beamed. “Astra! Now you don’t have to go to Ascelyn Academy anymore! You don’t need to protect us from them anymore!” Darcy turned to Astra.

Darcy wanted to test Astra’s resolve. If Astra’s desire for power waned just because he easily won his first battle, he shouldn’t go to Ascelyn Academy at all.

Astra was silent for a moment. The mage wasn’t coming back anymore. But Astra had loved dedicating himself to a goal. Every single day that he trained in the woods, he felt himself getting stronger bit by bit.

“I-I can’t stay…I want to get stronger…No, I NEED to get stronger.” Astra said with determination.

Darcy’s clouded eyes cleared up for the first time. Darcy looked at her son. She didn’t know that Astra was already so grown up. With his potential, staying in the village would only harm him. She gave Astra a gentle smile.

“Go then…Be strong.”

Astra stared at his mother. It was the first time that he had seen this. Her eyes were usually clouded and she seemed very frail and sickly. But at this very moment, she seemed to give off a gentle, angelic aura as if she was giving him a blessing.

Darcy nodded at Fausto and walked back inside the house.

Roussel didn’t seem to notice anything.

“Good bye, Dad. I’ll take care of this Sword of Gale for you.” Astra smiled at Roussel.

Roussel sniffled. “Even though you aren’t our real son, Darcy and I had always treated you like you were.”

“I know. I’m grateful for that.” Astra hugged Roussel and walked off with Fausto.

Roussel waved good bye until he could no longer see them.