“Did I...lose?”

That was the first thing that came out of Erwin's mouth, who, with a stunned expression, watched Elaine's satisfied face as she stood victorious before his eyes;

“I'm sorry, it will be for next time...” - said Elaine in a cheeky tone of voice, happy that she had managed to beat what she considered to be a blowhard - “Mr. Ron, I think I am no longer needed here...” concluded the girl, turning her gaze toward Ron, who, after observing for a long time the completely lost look of his pupil, gave a disappointed sigh.

[What... what the fuck!] Erwin thought furiously, who did not accept the defeat at all; he felt he had dominated her for all the fight, and that the only reason Elaine had won, was because of a simple trick... [I can't accept this...No!]

Ron noticed that Erwin was furious, but instead of consoling him, he ignored him, as in his eyes, this defeat was part of the boy's growth.

“Sure, you can go, but first tell me one thing: what do you think of Erwin now that you have faced him as an opponent?”

The Elf, analyzing the situation, began to understand why Ron organized this sparring; she had doubts, but the fact that the boy did not use any element against Rudolf or against her, was very strange for her, and she come to the conclusion that Erwin was unable to manipulate the elements.

So, she intuited that perhaps, Ron wanted Erwin to notice his limits, although the elf couldn't figure out what the hell Ron was thinking at the moment, since his expression was always so impassive;

"Well... Erwin is fast and powerful; for his age, his movements are really fluid, and the control over his body is good; in strength, reflexes and agility, he is better than me, although not that much... but that's all, he has nothing special and he's relly to much on his instict and he's a simpleton, that's why it took me a simple move to beat his ass..."

"... What did you just say?"

Hearing those words, Erwin felt hurt, mocked; he did not accept that he had lost to Elaine, and he also did not accept that this girl spoke as if Erwin was just "one of many."

He would have liked to respond to those harsh words that sounded more like accusations to him.

However, he asked himself if he could really respond to what Elaine said when in his heart, he knew that the words said by the girl came close to the reality of the facts. Therefore, the only thing Erwin could do was to remain silent, and begin to accept the bitter defeat.

Ron was ready for Erwin to blow up, but instead, he saw the boy take it on the chin and keep his cool. Seeing that, Ron let out a relieved breath, realizing Erwin was showing a new side of himself—a more grown-up side.

"Thank you for your honesty, Elaine. Could you leave us alone for a moment?" Ron asked, wanting to talk privately with the boy.

The girl looked at Erwin for a few moments, seeing in his eyes the anger towards her; [Not that I care much...] said the elf, who nodding, entered the house, thus leaving Erwin and Ron alone.

The two, after being alone, stood for a few seconds in silence observing each other, until Ron, having found the right words to say, began to speak.

"... Judging by your reaction, I think you understood what i told you earlier, right?"

Erwin was really frustrated; he knew in his heart that right now he would not be able to beat Elaine, even though the quality and the quantity of their mana was very similar. But still, it was difficult for him to admit that he was "defective", which is why, driven also by his pride, he did not respond, because it meant agreeing with Ron as a result of what he told him at Ludwig's house...

Ron, who knew Erwin well, knew that he would never admit it; therefore, hearing no response from Erwin, he continued his speech.

"This is the difference between you and people like Elaine: although you can be stronger and faster, you will always be disadvantaged against a person who uses an element and who is even slightly more experienced than you. Remember it, kid..."

"... Yes, yes..." replied annoyed Erwin, who in those few minutes, finally realized how really difficult his journey to become like his father would be.

Ron knew that Erwin would understand today's lesson on his own, so he did not worry too much about his negative attitude; however, that was not all he wanted to tell him, since Ron, that evening, had the goal of opening the mind of his "nephew", but he had to capture his attention first, and Ron knew the right thing to do so.

"Erwin, Do you want to know what kind of "trick" Elaine did to beat you?" Asked Ron.

Erwin, hearing those words, was like triggered, and although he did not give Ron an exact answer, the latter only had to look at his gaze, to understand that the boy yearned in finding out how he had lost to Elaine.

[Indeed, you're such a simpleton...] Ron thought, thinking about how easy was to fool Erwin...

"You see, those who use the elements, have a number of advantages against one who cannot use them; one of them, is the possibility of being able to expand the capabilities of their elements for a short period of time through spells".

"Spells...?" Erwin replied, drawn to the subject.

"That's right. You saw that alchemical circle that appeared in the water barrier, right?"

Erwin tried to remember the moment before he was wiped out by that shockwave, and indeed, he noticed an alchemical circle. But he was so angry that, for a moment, he had forgotten about it.

"Yes, I remember seeing something like that..."

"Exactly. That's a spell; the spells, which are based on alchemical circles, are magic formulas that serve to alter the nature of objects or people; these spells are usually sung or pronounced, but the effect is almost the same. The spells are mainly used by wizards who are not very good at hand-to-hand fight, relying to medium/long-range attacks. They can also use spells to cast defense systems, just as happened just before. In your case, the spell Elaine used is Repulse, a fairly common spell among kids who attended the magic academy or who have been taught by professional wizards. The peculiarity of Repulse is that it is a versatile spell, which finds use in many fields. In this case, Elaine took advantage of the elasticity of the water wall to absorb your blow, and at the same time, applied repulse to send the shock force back; it's a seemingly simple technique, but it's difficult to applicate it since you have to active the spell on the right timing..."

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

At that moment, Erwin finally understood how he lost against Elaine: it was not a mere trick, as Erwin had thought, but it was the result of technique, precision and skill. Now, that defeat that bothered him, started to hurt him less, and indeed, he began in a way to admire the girl, since from the way Ron spoke, he understood that what Elaine did a while ago was something difficult.

"... I thought that alchemical circles could only be written: so does it mean that I can learn to use magic spells too?"

"First of all, magical spells use the same principle as an alchemical circle, that is, to use drawings... But the substantial difference is that to create a spell, you must first understand the alchemical circle and memorize it; then through the mana, you have to materialize it; and this step is not only difficult, but also needs the supervision of a master of magic" - said Ron, trying to use simple terms to make Erwin understand the subject;

"And anyway no, it will be difficult for your empy head to learn how to cast and spell; In addition, many of the spells work only with the elements. So I recommend you to focus on something else." said Ron, thus dampening Erwin's dream of learning spells

"Damn, then the mages who can manipolate the elements are the strongest!"

"Not exactly..."

"Uh? What do you mean?" asked Erwin, intrigued by the teacher's ambiguous answer;

"You see, in this world there are people who, despite not being able to use an element, have the ability to face them; We called those guys "archaic wizards." said Ron, leaving shocked Erwin, who believed that there were only wizards capable of manipulating the elements;

"Archaic wizards?"

"That's right; numerically speaking, elemental mages are much more than archaic mages, but at the same time, archaic mages are not as rare as some may think: these wizards have extremely bizarre powers, from the most harmless to the most destructive or dangerous power, such as the power to be able to violate the great physical laws. Fortunately, those who possess this kind of destructive power are rare, otherwise it would be... dangerous for all of us."

Erwin realized how immense the world he lived in was; until recently, he believed that the world unknown to him was simplely made up of wizards who controlled the elements, gifters and nothing else; now instead, he had a somewhat different view of the world, since he was now aware of other types of wizards with more varied powers. This, however, only increased Erwin's curiosity to travel around the world.

Ron looked at Erwin, and in him, he felt the same excitement that his father had for the world: he had tried to kill this adventurer "spirit" of his to protect the boy, but as he finally realized, it was impossible.

[Good blood never lies...*] thought Ron, recalling another saying his father often told him and his brothers.

"I bet that right now, you're feeling more and more like leaving here, right?"

Erwin did not answer, but for the middle-aged man, his answer was clear; by now he knew him like his pockets, and moreover, it was enough to look at his eyes to understand what his thoughts were.

"You can't respond? Ok, i will be more direct: do you really want to become an official wizard and travel the world, despite all the things you heard today?" Ron asked him again, pointing also to Elaine's terrible story.

"..."

Erwin thought of Elaine's story, realizing that in reality, the world outside of Hakvill was not a "kind world" as he thought; the world was vast, and the mere fact that he had heard that story, made him wonder if there were actually people like Umarth here in Mykotos as well... But, at that moment, he did not see how this could prevent him from discovering new places, cultures and civilizations. Maybe his expectations would have been destroyed, maybe he would never enter the academy and never become an official wizard, but if he hadn't even tried, he would probably regret it for the rest of his days.

"Yes, my intentions have not changed: I want to follow in my father's step!"

"!!"

Ron looked at the boy; despite his thoughts being quite simplistic and careless bothered Ron, at the same time it was something that made him happy, since at that moment, in the boy's flaming eyes, he saw the right mood to start this difficult journey.

"Well, if this is the case, then I'll give you permission..."

"The permission for what?" asked Erwin, who didn't understand what Ron meant.

"You Idiot... I'm giving you the chance to leave this ugly place and try to enter in a magic academy..."

Erwin was silent for a few seconds; first he looked at Ron, carefully observing his expression; he believed that he was joking, since Ron was know to never change his mind. But soon after, he realized that maybe that wasn't the case, as Ron wasn't used to joking or using any form of sarcasm.

"D-Don't joke with me, Ron..."

"...Seriously, you are an idiot..." - huffed Ron, slightly annoyed by Ron's reaction -"Honestly, I still don't want you to leave: I'm still convinced that you're at a disadvantage against most of the students who are there; but you're so stubborn that i know that if i'm not letting you try your chance, i'm sure you would have run away from me. So... go and give it your best--!"

As soon as Ron finished talking, he was overwhelmed by Erwin, who jumped on him for the happiness

"HAHAHAHA! Thank you! Thank you!" Erwin screamed with joy, who kept swirking like a madman, unleashing Ron's anger, who shrugged off Erwin without too much compliment, hitting him with his most classic of fists.

"Damn, you're too big for that..." said slightly embarrassed Ron, who didn't expect such a reaction.

"Anywhow...You'll go to the same academy as your father, the academy of the thousand magical arts of the capital. But there are 2 conditions: the first is that you will leave in two days: we still have to solve the problem related to the transition between mana and aura and it will take at least the whole day; the second is that you will not be alone, but you will be accompanied by Elaine."

"What?! Why with Elaine?!" Erwin exclaimed, who was certainly not exactly happy with these conditions.

"Because you're such an idiot that if I send you alone, I'm sure you'll end up in some trouble." - Ron replied dryly, with a serious expression – "Either so, or you'll be stay here and work—"

"Okay...I accept..." said Erwin, who despite being reluctant to the idea, would never miss such an opportunity

"Also, there are two other rules you must follows"- Ron said again, again worrying Erwin, who didn't know what to expect this time -"rule No. 1: Don't reveal that you are the son of Artemisius; rule No. 2: Don't talk about me to others, do you understand?"

"Huh? What Kind of---!!"

"DO YOU UNDERSTAND?" He repeated Ron again with a serious and cold look, thus frightening Erwin, who desisted from asking the reason for such rules.

Erwin was not that stupid, and he understood that Ron was probably hiding his identity; he was curious about what he did before and why he found himself in Hakvill and not in the ultra part, but he knew that, tough as Ron was, he would never reveal anything to him. Besides, if he insisted on that, he was convinced that Ron was capable of preventing him from leaving.

[Better to mind my own business for now...] thought Ron, who, despite his curiosity, held his tongue, then nodded to the two rules Ron proposed.

"Well, having said that... you can go. I'm already sick of you..."

END OF CHAPTER 11 - WEAK