As Julian opened the door, he saw a tall old woman in nun attire towering over him. Julian felt a burning sensation throughout his body even with his fire resistance. He instinctively took a step back but then composed himself.
"Welcome, Sister Theresa," he said.
"You must be the Julian brat Orsi mentioned." Sister Theresa was impressed that Julian managed to compose himself this quickly.
"Yes, Sister," Julian replied. "Please, come inside. I will take you to Father."
"Orsi said that you are a magic prodigy or something. Meet me outside in an hour. Let me see if you are worth training," Sister Theresa said while following Julian.
This event had transpired due to a discussion with Father a month ago.
---
:: One Month Ago ::
Julian, Asta, Yuno, and Father were sitting near the demon skull after Julian finished his daily training. For the last few years, Asta and Yuno joined Julian's training too, picking up a lot of his skills. Yuno's wind magic was developing without a hitch, but Asta still hadn't awakened any magic. To train Asta for the future, Julian got Asta a rusty sword to train and fight.
Although Yuno had very high mana for a child, Julian's mana surpassed his, making him wonder if he was an abandoned child of a royal or if the voice just teleported him as a baby. That aside, since Julian was a total novice in swordplay, the three of them approached the village hunters for training, which taught them the basics of weapon handling. Yuno was not that interested in swordplay, so he learned archery from them. Seeing the three of them work so hard towards their goals, Father Orsi made a decision.
"Did you know what I did before coming to Hage Village?" Father asked.
"No, you never mentioned," Julian said.
"Then listen," Father started telling his story. "I was the son of a declining noble family. We were not special since we didn't have high mana reserves with wealth like the other nobles. In the power struggle, I lost my family and everything, wandering in the streets searching for food. It was then Sister Theresa found me and took me in. She used to be the teacher of the captain of the Crimson Lions Magic Knights squad. She invested all her funds from teaching to maintain a church and orphanage in the capital, and I was taken there. She changed my life completely, from someone losing everything to someone who found his calling. I decided to carry on her legacy and open a church in the lower realm. When I visit the city, I talk to her about you three a lot. She said that she was willing to train all of you if you managed to impress her."
He then added with a trembling voice, "We have taught you everything we knew. Keeping you here will only stagnate your growth. You are very special to me and showed me that I can fulfill my dream, so I want to fulfill yours too. Are you willing to go with her? She will train you till you join the Magic Knights."
Many thoughts ran through Julian's head, thinking of a possible reply. The memories spent in the church, the time spent with Father, and the love he received made him very emotional. He knew he had to leave this place sooner or later but didn't expect it to be so early.
"Yes, Father, I will take this opportunity you have given me," he said, but Asta and Yuno could not give a reply.
---
:: Present Time ::
The trio of Julian, Asta, and Yuno stood in their backyard with Sister Theresa opposite them. Asta had taken a stance with his rusty sword that Julian gave him, while Yuno took a defensive stance. Finally, Julian stood at the back, keeping all his senses active.
"I heard you three were good at fighting?! Show it to me!"
Julian shook his head, thinking how much her attitude reminded him of Mereoleona, but he flinched the next second. A wave of invisible pressure hit the three of them, making their faces twisted with horror. They felt as if their surroundings were changing, and instead of their backyard, they were standing on the floor of flames with leopards made of flames surrounding them as if they were the prey.
'What the hell is this!?' Yuno screamed inside his mind in shock. Asta and Yuno immediately dropped to the ground, barely holding from losing consciousness. But Julian was still standing as his face turned from horror to excitement. He had clenched his fists so hard that his fingers dug through his palm, drawing blood, but he was still standing. Julian looked towards Theresa as if she was a treasure chest of magic. He wanted to learn this power.
Sister Theresa was initially impressed by Julian's will, managing to stand against her pressure, but she raised her eyebrows seeing his reaction.
'What a weird brat….'
Julian's red eyes seemed to start burning as mana seeped through his mana core and cells to his palms and legs, reinforcing them. Flames burst through his legs as he flew towards her with the fastest speed he could attain and went for a punch in her chest.
As his punch was about to hit, she crossed her arms, completely blocking his attack. Flames erupted from his legs again as he rotated his body mid-air to hit the back of her head, but she ducked the moment his leg was about to make contact with her head. Sensing danger, Julian immediately flew into the air as the area around her burst into flames.
'I knew close combat was not an option, but I wished to see where I stood against someone experienced. Let's start plan B.'
Julian knew that he could not make her bleed, but at least he wanted to make her take a step back from his attacks. Julian snapped his fingers as dozens of balls of fire appeared around him. With another snap, those turned to arrows and shot towards Sister Theresa.
Mana gathered around Sister's palms as she punched forward, causing an explosion that destroyed every single arrow. The ground cracked all around as tentacles emerged from the ground and wrapped around Sister, trying to bind her. At the same time, a beam of condensed flames erupted from Julian's palm, aiming for her head. At that instant, two things happened. The tentacles holding her in place snapped from Julian's control and obeyed Sister's commands to form a shield around her, blocking the beam.
Julian was not too surprised by this move since she too had flame magic, so taking control of the spell of a novice like him should be not that difficult. Julian didn't give up and began bombarding her with endless spells for the next minute, be it close-range spells or long-range ones, but Sister effortlessly managed to deal with them.
Asta had somewhat managed to stand but still could not move from his spot, staring at the battle with a hint of regret. 'So Julian-ni never used his full power against us.' Yuno stared daggers at Sister as anger filled his heart due to weakness, but every time he tried to move, the pressure increased, but Julian was able to thrive within that pressure.
By now, Sister had seen everything she needed to see, so she decided to end the match. "Have you done enough? Don't you think it's time to end the match? Magic responds to the user's feelings. Fuel your fire with your ambition and your emotions, and come at me with everything!" she shouted, igniting more flames within Julian.
"You are right…" Julian raised his hand in the air as an enormous ball of flame formed on top of it. The ball of flames was so bright that it appeared like a second Sun. The next second, the ball started to compress to half its size as the temperature kept rising.
Father Orsi, who was watching from the sidelines, immediately moved Asta and Yuno behind him as Sister Lily created a Shield of Water protecting the four of them.
Julian forced his senses to the limit as the ball of flame wrapped around his fist. [Flame Creation Magic: Solar Strike] With a blink of an eye, Julian was in front of Sister Theresa with his fist aiming for her chest. Everything around them turned white, followed by an earth-shattering sound of an explosion making every villager look towards the Church.
As the explosion cleared up, it could be seen that Sister was holding Julian's fist, who was barely standing due to exhaustion. There was a shield made of flames covering the area from getting damaged. But there was something that shocked the onlookers. Sister's hand that held Julian's fist was bleeding while she was pushed back from her initial position.
"How was my spell, Sister? Did you feel my ambition?" Julian smirked before limping on the ground, losing consciousness.
A strange smile appeared on Sister's face as she looked at her bleeding palm. Only she knew what happened at the last moment. Julian's spell absorbed her reinforcement magic to fuel itself.
'I didn't plan to take a disciple after the Vermillion siblings, but seems like I have to change my mind.'