The Lightning Prodigy
Serian shivered slightly in the evening chill. “The sun’s gone down, so it’s getting a bit cold,” she muttered. She had insisted, with every ounce of her acting ability, that she would go alone. But they simply could not send their goddess into the pitch-black night to face the enemy by herself. That was why they were here.
On a small hill a safe distance from the meeting spot, three men who had drunk rubber potions were hiding among the tall grass. Franz couldn’t help but tremble in the cold night air as he glanced sideways. There sat Vice-Commander Gideon… and a completely naked Braum.
‘Doesn’t that old man feel the cold at all?’
Braum had already stripped off every piece of equipment (and clothing) in preparation for battle. Franz, who had dressed as lightly as possible in case he needed to tear his own clothes off and charge out, shivered from the cold. Or perhaps… it wasn’t just the cold making him shake.
The tension of witnessing a historic moment—the enemy nation’s high-ranking mage facing off against their own goddess—had his entire body trembling.
‘Just what is she planning?’
Franz was certain this was some kind of duel challenge. Otherwise, why summon the enemy commander in the middle of the night? Among knights, it wasn’t uncommon to issue formal duels out of chivalric spirit. One would declare their affiliation and name, then stake their honor as a knight on a life-or-death match.
Once a duel was accepted, no one was allowed to interfere, even if their side held the numerical advantage. To a knight, honor and pride were as precious as life itself. So for Franz, this situation felt strangely familiar. Though they were mages, they surely had their own customs.
He wanted to burn the sight of Serian into his memory—the image of that noble hero risking herself alone for their sake. The caliber of the monarch he should strive to emulate.
“There she is. It’s Lady Serian,” Gideon whispered. Franz held his breath and gazed at his goddess.
Serian stepped into the dark forest and glanced back toward the hill.
‘At this distance… they shouldn’t be able to hear our conversation.’
She had thrown a full dramatic performance, stubbornly insisting she would go alone, but it had been completely useless. For some incomprehensible reason, they had all looked deeply moved and stubbornly refused to let her go by herself. Even that damn Franz, the Margrave, had tagged along.
In the end, the three who followed her had only agreed to wait on the distant hill. Of course, the decision to meet the mage here instead of bringing her into the castle had been Serian’s idea. If that cornered lunatic dropped lightning bolts inside the castle walls, the damage would be catastrophic.
If things went wrong in this forest-surrounded location, she could still escape using her aerial mobility device.
‘Please… please just go home already.’
Serian prayed desperately in her heart. This meeting itself was an enormous gamble for her. Had the mage come to fight? Or did she have something to say? With zero information about the mage, she had no way to guess.
Still, no matter what, her plan hadn’t completely fallen apart yet. Whether the mage had come to fight or to talk, the absolute best outcome right now was to send her back unharmed. If that happened, their supply-starved army would definitely lose the next battle against that lightning mage!
Just as Serian rode her horse nearly to the appointed spot—
Swish.
From the darkness of the forest, a hooded figure emerged without a sound. The distance between them was roughly fifty meters. A heavy silence fell.
Serian gripped the controller of her aerial mobility device tightly, ready for anything.
‘If things go south, I’ll just fly away.’
From what she’d seen so far, the mage seemed only capable of lightning magic. But still—who knew? A true expert always hid at least thirty percent of their power. She might have some secret technique prepared. Or perhaps she had brought a scroll packed with devastating magic, hoping to catch Serian off guard by pretending to be alone.
The opponent walked forward slowly—very slowly. Beneath the rain-soaked, drooping hood, no expression could be read. Just an unidentified mage approaching her.
Finally, the figure stopped ten meters in front of Serian.
In the taut tension, it was Serian who broke the silence first.
“What do you want?”
She spoke in the coldest, most domineering voice she could manage. The best way to send this mage back unharmed while those spectators watched was to scare her off.
But no answer came.
Instead, the hooded figure slowly raised a hand.
Every nerve in Serian’s body snapped to attention.
‘Tch… She’s going to cast a spell!’
The moment Serian reflexively began gathering mana into her hand—
“……?”
The hand wasn’t pointing at her. It was reaching for the figure’s own hood.
Slrrrp.
The wet fabric slid back, revealing the face hidden beneath it in the moonlight.
“……!”
Serian couldn’t help but be shocked!
The person under the hood was neither a bloodthirsty warmonger nor a cunning archmage. Standing there was a young girl with golden hair plastered wet against her cheeks, large blue eyes like a frightened deer, and a youthful, innocent face that looked about the same age as Serian herself.
‘I had vaguely guessed… that she was female…’
During the many chases, she had caught glimpses of the silhouette beneath the hood and suspected the mage was a woman. But she never imagined the mage would be this young.
Someone who had reached the level of commanding lightning should have been at least forty years old, she had thought.
The moment Serian’s mind briefly froze, the girl finally spoke.
She hesitated for a second, lips twitching, then looked straight at Serian with determination.
“……?”
There was something strange about her eyes. They seemed nervous, yet at the same time carried an excited thrill that didn’t match the situation at all.
“Um… You’re also the type who…”
The girl breathed heavily as she slowly raised her hand into the air.
“Goes pssh, and then…”
A small spark of electricity crackled at her fingertips.
At that moment, the corner of her mouth curled up slightly.
“Goes KA-BOOOOOM, right?”
“……?”
Lili — The Lightning Prodigy
🌩 Rank: N-Star Mage (Self-Proclaimed)
⚡ Specialty: Born with absurd lightning affinity
🧠 Intelligence: Academic zero. Pure instinct genius
🍖 Personality: Arrogant, childish, gluttonous, hyperactive
Lili was a Special Mage. Astra, like Grandia, used the same mage ranking system. Starting from 1-Star Mage, then 2-Star, 3-Star, and so on…
But she had none of that.
To earn the title of ‘N-Star Mage,’ one had to prove both their magical knowledge and the corresponding mana control ability. However—Lili couldn’t do any of that.
Lili was not a smart mage. She had simply been born with an insanely high affinity for heavenly lightning-attribute mana and an instinctive talent for wielding it.
Weren’t there people like that? People who were just naturally gifted at singing or sports? Of course, even they had to put in effort to reach mastery. But if you asked them,
“My god, what an incredible talent. How exactly do you do it?”
They would probably answer like this:
“Umm… I dunno lol.”
“It just works when I do it?”
“????”
“If I have to explain… I guess I raise my hand, go zzzt, pssh…! and then KA-BOOOOOM?”
“…..?”
“E-explain it one more time!”
“I said, zzzzzzt, pssh! Then KA-BOOOOOM!”
“What the hell is…”
“Ugh, you’re so slow, mister! Are you even a real mage? I told you, psshhh then KABOOM!”
“…..”
Whenever the region’s famous mages gave her that blank, uncomprehending stare, Lili would think to herself,
“Hmph! Even when I teach them they can’t do it! Idiots!”
Wait—huh?
Didn’t that old man just say he was the greatest mage in the area? Even he can’t do this? Hmm…
If even someone that amazing can’t do it…
!!! Could it be?! Does that mean I’m way smarter than all of them??
Then… doesn’t that mean I’m a genius mage born with a super-high-performance brain that even the gods would envy??
‘Hehe… Well, of course not everyone can be born with a brilliant mind like mine.’
Yes. She was a magical prodigy who had been born with an absurd physical talent but without the matching intelligence—a true magic idiot savant.
Lili was a war orphan from Astra’s colonies. Normally she wouldn’t have even been allowed to step foot near an academy entrance exam, but her dazzling talent had spread by word of mouth. Countless high-ranking mages had flocked to take her as a disciple.
For the colonists, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If they could become the disciple of a famous mage, receive sponsorship and teachings, they too might one day grow into a powerful mage.
But after seeing her dizzying answers and her snow-white, empty mental state, every single one of them gave up within a month—often while suffering from skyrocketing blood pressure!
In the end, she scored zero points every year on both the Magic Tower exam and the academy entrance test. She never got into the academy.
Nevertheless, her innate talent for handling lightning mana was unmatched. After all the mages who had tried to become her teacher left, she muttered to herself alone.
“Aah… This is so boring I want to die. Isn’t there any mage smarter than me?”
“Wait a minute…”
If there’s no mage better than me, then can’t I just teach myself?!
She was genuinely impressed by her own brilliant idea.
‘Whoa! I was super smart just now. Wow… A genius mage really is on another level.’
Hehe. Yeah, trying to learn anything from people dumber than me was the wrong idea from the start. From now on, I’ll do everything by myself!
And so she decided to walk the path of enlightenment alone, without anyone’s help.
One day, while she was training by herself as usual, a torrential downpour was falling. Her whole body was soaked, but she didn’t go back. Even though she had long passed the usual time to return.
Because that day, she was feeling it!
‘Ah! Today somehow feels like it’s going to work.’
Huuup. Should I try a little more? Yeah, this tingling sensation. If I do it like this, with this feeling… zzzzzzzzzt… and then… BOOM… and… cracklecrackle? Yes—now!
Relying purely on instinct, she lowered her fingertips at exactly the right moment.
And then—
KWAAAAAAAAAAAANG!
The world flashed pure white. A deafening roar echoed, and for a brief moment, a strange silence fell over the rainy forest.
Sssss—
“……”
For a long time, she stood there in a daze, savoring the lingering current rising from her fingertips. Only the sound of raindrops pattering against the wet ground could be heard.
And then, slowly, the corners of her mouth rose.
‘It worked… It really worked.’
Hehehehehe—! Ehehe… Ehehehehehehe! Uahahaha!
As expected… It’s me! How can I be this smart?! No wonder those other idiots can’t understand me!
This was the moment a super-high-intelligence genius mage who could even offend the gods was born.
“Wait, wait a second…”
Serian, who had been listening to Lili’s explanation, asked urgently.
“So… you’re saying you’ve studied all magic completely by yourself until now?”
“Ahem, that’s right. It’s true.”
Taking Serian’s reaction as praise, Lili twisted her body shyly.
“Yep! Everyone else was just a bunch of idiots! Their level didn’t match mine, so I trained alone! Hehe.”
Watching her, Serian finally realized the truth.
This kid… was without a doubt a seriously weird kid.