Chương 135: Intentions

Damion practiced his magic for an hour before Elicia finally decided she should go in search of him. She thought that after he completed another circuit, he would come back to the dorm and clean up. When he did not show, it left Elicia with the belief Damion had managed to get himself lost and if that was the case and a professor, or her grandfather, found out, she would be in quite a bit of trouble.

When Elicia walked out of the dormitory and saw him sitting in the grass casting spell after spell she suddenly began to understand what made Damion so special. She was only E Rank, and despite the resources the Sorin family had poured into her, she only had a magic power of around 700 and a mana capacity of less than 300. Seeing him cast spell after spell, without pausing or taking mana regeneration potions told her he was more than special, he was unique.

Elicia, like most mages had misaligned magic talent and magic affinities. She had an A Rank Wind magic affinity, thanks to a Heavenly Wind Enhancing Fruit her family had acquired for her a few years ago, boosting her B Rank affinity to A Rank. Unfortunately, she only had a C Rank magic talent, which meant it was hard for her to learn magic seals and she only had average mana capacity and magic regeneration.

Damion being able to endlessly cast spells helped her to see exactly what an S+ Rank in magic talent and magic power meant. Elicia continued to watch as the young man cast spells the rest of the morning. Lunch time came and went, but Damion was still sitting there, casting one spell after another. Jealousy panged at Elicia's heart as she watched, thinking about how it would take almost a full day for her mana to recover if she cast more than two dozen spells.

"Remarkable isn't he," a voice said from behind Elicia. She turned and saw Mage Teft standing there, eyes focused on Damion.

"I never really conceived what an S+ Rank talent could do," Elicia admitted.

"Right now, he is only C Rank but has the mana of a B Rank and mana regeneration that must be off the charts."

"Do you really think he can surpass S Rank?"

"Given time and effort anyone can rise as high as they wish to go. A lesson that is not taught much here at Silver Spire since my previous departure."

"Dean Thorn was always focused on raising up the noble families. Do you think that is one of the reasons he denied Mage Wells testing? That he didn't want another common born mage to rise above the declining Thorn family?"

"Such ill intent may have been part of his actions," Mage Teft said quietly.

"Mostly, it was just a poorly thought-out reaction to an overeager little boy."

"What did you see in him that made you want to train him? You couldn't have known he would turn out to be this outstanding."

"I saw in him untapped potential. The same as I see in you."

"Sorry to disappoint, I only have C Rank talent."

"There are many forms of potential. Being afraid of what might happen should not hold you back."

"You think I should run away and live as a knight?" Elicia quietly asked. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"I think you should stop letting having C Rank magic talent define you and hold you back. You could easily rise to the top ranks of knights, but you are a mage in your heart. Just because you have mediocre talent doesn't mean you still can't reach B or even A Rank."

"Says a woman on the cusp of reaching S Rank. I don't have your talent."

"My talent?" Mage Teft let out a chuckle.

"I have A Rank Water affinity true, just like you have A Rank Wind affinity. And just like you I have C Rank magic talent." Elicia was deathly silent when she heard Mage Teft's confession. Magic talent was essential for growth. If your magic talent was lacking everything to do with magic was harder. Learning magic seals, growing your mana capacity, with low magic talent Ranking up was extremely difficult. But if what Mage Teft said was true, then perhaps there was a path forward for her.

"How did you do it?" Elicia pleaded.

"How did you overcome the stigma?"

"First, I did not let others tell me I would not amount to anything. And Secondly, through lots of hard work. With the resources of your family, rising in the Ranks should be much easier for you than it was for me. But because they see you struggle and give up; they've left you the task of seducing my pupil."

"I… I wouldn't…"

"Don't bother denying it," Mage Teft told her.

"I have let Damion make his own choices, and he's made plenty of mistakes, but he doesn't quit. He learns from them. It is all part of growing stronger. Do keep in mind though, that I think of him as my own grandson. And while I won't interfere in his personal matters, I won't necessarily approve of them either." Elicia gulped at Mage Teft's words. Internally she was still struggling against the will of her grandfather to tie Damion to her family.

Knowing that Mage Teft was fully aware of what her grandfather, Headmaster Sorin, wanted certainly complicated moving forward with any plan. But Mage Teft also gave Elicia an alternative, proof that life as a mage was not as hopeless as she was led to believe by her family.

"How should I train? I'm not able to learn any spells above Tier 2. I'm not even sure what I should focus on."

"Even after all these years, I don't know any spells over Tier 2 either. But that is just another fallacy people perpetuate. Focus on what you know. A few spells mastered are greater than many spells you can barely use. And continue to train with Damion. You will find that it is easier to focus on growing when you have someone to compete against."

"Aren't you afraid I'll lose my resolve to grow if I continuously fall short of his progress?"

"Use him to motivate you but measure your success by what you have accomplished. And if you do grow close to him… just know there may come a time when he will need someone to look after him."

"Thank you Dean Teft," Elicia said politely, she was not sure what Dean Teft meant, but as she took Teft's words to heart.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Go practice." Mage Teft motioned with her hand for Elicia to go over to Damion. Once Elicia turned and headed over, Mage Teft departed. Elicia took a seat on the grass near Damion, who had yet to notice her presence. Despite his repetitive spell casting, Elicia noticed that he did not appear to be struggling. He just sat there, casting over and over as if he did not have a care in the world. Taking a breath and summoning her mana, Elicia cast her first spell.

"Wind Slash," Elicia mumbled out as a sharp blast of wind shot out from her hand. Unlike Damion, she had to speak her spells aloud, not having mastered silent casting. After a few moments the spell he was casting switched to Ice Shard. Damion casually laid back on the grass and stuck his palm straight up and cast Ice Shard. The small crystal of ice flew up and disappeared into the sky.

Elicia half wondered if the crystal would fall back to the ground and hit one of them in the head, but she realized that was probably unlikely. If the ice moved too far from Damion it would cease being ice and revert to ambient mana. Another Ice Shard shot out from his palm, this one traveled slower, and Elicia was able to follow its path for a short moment before it became too distant to see. When Damion cast a third Ice Shard just as slow, Elicia had an idea.

"Wind Slash," Elicia cast her own spell that flew out and then hit Damion's Ice Shard. Elicia's Wind Slash was not as strong as Damion's Ice Shard, so the Wind Slash was broken, but the ice crystal wobbled in the air after the impact. Damion cast his spell again and Elicia followed suit to hit his spell as a sort of game between them.