Chapter 45
Chapter 45
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: The Search for an Attribute
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***
“But, Master.”
It was during Noa’s magic lesson.
Lucillea, who had effortlessly conjured a blue droplet of water in her right hand and a red flame in her left, asked Noa a question.
“When can I determine my attribute?”
Quickly dispelling the water and fire in her hands, Lucillea just as easily summoned wind-attribute and earth-attribute magic, one in each hand.
In her right hand, a transparent, light-green butterfly of wind magic took shape, while in her other, brown sand rose and writhed like a living sand snake.
Watching this, Noa let out a dry laugh.
‘A monster, she’s a real monster.’
It hadn't even been a month since Lucillea had arrived at the grand duke’s residence.
Naturally, she had only been taking his lessons for about that long.
In that short time, Lucillea’s mana capacity had grown even larger.
Every special ability had a limit, a vessel of a certain size to contain it, yet this child was expanding her mana as if to say, ‘What’s a limit?’
‘And it doesn’t even seem like she’s doing it intentionally…’
It was both bizarre and worrisome.
Normally, one would eventually hit a limit, after which their growth would slow down.
But Lucillea had never once hit a limit.
‘Is it really okay for her to keep increasing her mana like this?’
Having never heard of such a case, Noa was at a loss.
‘Should I show her to my master…?’
Just then, Lucillea dismissed the magic in her hands and asked again.
“Well? What attribute do I specialize in? Why won’t you answer me? You’re not sleeping with your eyes open again, are you?”
“…I’m not.”
Ahem. Noa hopped down from the windowsill and walked over to Lucillea.
“Don’t you feel it? Which attribute feels more comfortable to use, which one you’re drawn to.”
Lucillea shrugged.
“Not at all. They all feel about the same.”
“No, there must be an attribute that feels even slightly different, right?”
“I’m asking you because I don’t feel anything like that…”
Lucillea eyed Noa with suspicion.
“Be honest with me.”
“…About what?”
“You don’t really know, do you? About this sort of thing.”
“That’s not it…”
Ahem. Glancing at Lucillea, Noa turned away and said.
“Then let’s have a special lesson today.”
“Something special?”
“Yes. A special lesson to find your attribute, you could say.”
Ooh! Lucillea’s eyes sparkled as she bounced on her feet.
“Let’s go! Let’s go!”
Noa extended a hand toward the wall of the training hall.
Then, with his palm open, he swept his hand from left to right across the room, and the scenery of the training hall rapidly transformed.
*Gasp!* Lucillea sucked in a breath in surprise.
The training hall, which had been furnished only with desks like a classroom, finally took on the appearance of a proper training ground.
The ordinary wooden floor that had covered the ground vanished in an instant.
In its place, a massive circular arena made of solid basalt revealed itself.
On the arena floor, a complex magic circle resembling ancient runes emitted a soft glow, its light seemingly connected to a transparent, hemispherical barrier that enveloped the entire arena.
The ceiling disappeared as if it had been blown open, replaced by a virtual sky created by magic, not the real one.
On one side of the arena stood the Altar of Fire, where blazing lava flowed like a river. Opposite it was the Altar of Water, where a great waterfall cascaded into a lake of unknown depth.
On another side was the Altar of Earth, with sharp, crystal-like rock pillars jutting out. Facing it was the Altar of Wind, where winds swirled, levitating small floating stones.
Each of the four altars emanated a powerful aura symbolizing its respective attribute.
This was no longer a simple classroom.
It was an overwhelming and majestic space, as if one had stepped into an arena of the gods.
It was the ultimate training ground, one that would never break no matter how much mana was unleashed—a place reserved only for the chosen.
Lucillea stood with her mouth agape, her eyes wide with wonder as she looked around the transformed training hall.
“Wow…!”
Lucillea looked at Noa, her eyes filled with genuine admiration.
“Master… you were a real magician?”
“…Why do I get the feeling that was vaguely insulting?”
“It’s a compliment.”
“Thaaanks a lot.”
Noa replied without sincerity and cleared his throat.
“Anyway!”
Noa stretched out one hand, and with a brief flash of light in his palm, a long magic staff materialized.
“Wow! Is that your staff, Master?!”
Lucillea’s eyes went wide.
“Yeah. First time seeing a staff?”
“Yes!”
“Oh? Really?”
At Lucillea’s admission, Noa struck an exaggerated pose to give her a better look at the staff.
Noa’s staff was a translucent blue, as if carved directly from the currents of the deep sea.
His specialty was the water attribute, and the staff’s appearance seemed to have captured the very form of a wave.
At the very top, a pearl with an exceptional luster was embedded, and a fine mist swirled around it like a heat haze.
It looked cool and mystical just by looking at it.
After staring at the magnificent and beautiful staff for a while, Lucillea glanced down at her own rotten tree branch… or rather, her wand that looked like one.
A sigh escaped her lips.
“I want that staff…”
Lucillea muttered in a dejected voice, but Noa cut her off flatly.
“No.”
“Why not! That one is so cool, but look at mine! The difference is just too much!”
Lucillea protested, shaking her wand as if to show how unfair it was.
“A wand is perfect for you.”
“Wow! So decisive! If you have such firm convictions, why can’t you pick out an attribute for me?!”
Lucillea snapped petulantly.
“You’re the one who has to do the picking.”
Noa shrugged, a playful expression on his face.
Hmph! Feeling defiant, Lucillea marched to the center of the arena.
“Should I stand here?”
“Yes.”
Noa lightly swung his staff.
The magic circle on the arena floor glowed even brighter.
Threads of energy from each of the four altars began to flow out and converge at the center.
The disparate energies swirled around Lucillea’s small body.
“Now, close your eyes.”
Noa’s voice grew serious.
“Don’t think about any attribute. Just think about drawing out the pure mana flowing within you, the power of your very core.”
Lucillea closed her eyes and focused on his words.
Lucillea did her best to ignore the four energies circling around her.
She focused all her senses on the mana flowing quietly in her deepest core, near her heart.
‘Perceive, focus, attune.’
Noa’s very basic and primal teachings flashed through her mind. Lucillea tightened her grip on the wand.
Suddenly, a streak of light-green light began to flow from the wand, which had previously shown no signs of life.
*Whaaaaaam—!*
Simultaneously, Lucillea’s entire body was engulfed in that same light-green energy.
Noa’s brow furrowed.
It was an energy he had never felt before.
It was not skewed toward any particular attribute, but a pure, primordial life force.
Noa’s eyes filled with shock, and the color drained from his once-playful face.
‘What in the world is this…?’
Just then, the light-green energy enveloping Lucillea surged.
It then shot back out toward the four elemental altars.
As Lucillea’s energy reached each altar, they began to react violently.
The blazing lava burned even more fiercely, and the cascading waterfall swelled into a massive tidal wave.
Sharp rock pillars pierced through the ground, soaring toward the sky, and the swirling wind became a colossal vortex, powerful enough to tear everything apart.
It was a resonance.
The altars, which had remained unchanged for hundreds of years as if frozen in time, were now greedily absorbing Lucillea’s mana as if they were growing.
“Lucillea! Stop! Withdraw your mana!”
“…”
It was no use. Lucillea was already past the point of rational thought.
Noa swung his staff, unleashing his own mana to suppress Lucillea’s.
“Lucillea! Snap out of it!”
Noa’s mana gradually expanded, pushing back against Lucillea’s.
If this continued, her mana could run rampant.
No, this situation was no different from a mana overload.
“Dammit!”
He couldn't delay any longer.
Noa wrapped himself in multiple layers of a blue water barrier, then launched himself without hesitation toward Lucillea, who was at the center of the light-green vortex.
“Snap out of it, you pipsqueak!”
The moment Noa took Lucillea into his arms.
*KABOOOOOM—!*
A tremendous roar erupted.
It was the sound of two forces that should never have collided.
The impact of the explosion sent Noa flying like a sheet of paper, slamming him straight into one of the training hall walls.
A brief silence followed.
The raging wind, the boiling lava, the soaring rocks, and the massive tidal wave all vanished, leaving only stillness.
A cloud of dust billowed throughout the training hall, obscuring the two figures from view.
A moment later.
As the dust slowly settled, Noa was revealed, slumped against the wall where he had collapsed.
“Ugh… I’m dying…”
*Cough, cough.*
Noa coughed repeatedly. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, but his arms still held Lucillea tightly.
Tasting the metallic tang in his mouth and wondering how long it had been since he’d been this injured, Noa quickly checked on the person in his arms.
‘The kid!’
After confirming Lucillea’s condition, he let out a sigh of relief.
“Huuu…”
She was safe.
She was unconscious and limp, but there seemed to be no major visible injuries.
Noa looked down at Lucillea, who lay in his arms with her eyes closed as if she were asleep.
Thankfully, her rampaging mana had calmed down as if nothing had happened.
‘What an unpredictable kid.’
Damn it…
Noa roughly swept his bangs back and muttered to himself.
“Looks like I’m in way over my head, aren’t I?”
With a troublesome, dangerous, and above all, willful disciple. And he was in deep.