Sister Theresa was very impressed with Julian. Although Asta and Yuno managed to stay awake under the pressure that would make most adults faint, it didn't hold Julian down. The way he moved and used his spells showed enormous untapped potential. Julian was continuously adapting and adjusting to Sister Theresa throughout the entire fight. Many things shocked her about Julian, but the most astonishing was his last spell which could absorb mana from others' spells to fuel itself. It was such an advanced concept that only a handful of people could use it, not even her.
The next impressive feat was the use of natural mana. Although only a few times, Theresa could feel Julian inject natural mana into his spells. The strange nature of his flames, the amount of mana within his body, along with his ability to use natural mana, made Theresa confused about his origins. Either he was a foreigner or a secret child of a royal. She heard from Orsi that he was self-taught, but still, he was too strong for his age. Julian reminded her a lot of Mereoleona, an untamed beast, even though she was not as strong as him at this age.
******************
After Julian was knocked out, Sister Lily hurried to heal him. Father Orsi had an emotionless face as he knew what was coming next. Asta and Yuno were frustrated that they could not show their powers but happy for Julian. At least one of them was getting a head start.
"I will take Julian with me. Although I have time to only train him, I will ask him to pass my teachings to you two since he was your teacher," Sister Theresa said to Asta and Yuno. "Prepare him by tomorrow morning. I will come to pick him up then," she said to Orsi.
"Are you not staying the night here?" Orsi asked.
"No, I have some work to do. I will be back tomorrow morning."
********************
Julian's POV:
I opened my eyes and found myself in my bed with moonlight on my face. Countless thoughts ran through my mind as I analyzed my fight. I had a lot of wasted movements since I never had someone correct them, but seeing Sister's defensive movements, I gained a lot of inspiration. I felt cracks starting to form around my mana core due to over-exertion in the fight, signifying that the orange stage was near.
I heard footsteps and saw Sister Lily coming towards me with a sad expression.
"Sister Theresa wants to take you as her disciple. I have packed your clothes as she decided to take you tomorrow morning. Rest for today and say a proper goodbye to everyone tomorrow morning," she said.
"What about Asta and Yuno?" I asked.
"Your fight gave them a wake-up call, so they immediately returned to training."
I could see that Sister Lily didn't want to talk much. She had been there with me for the past seven years, so saying goodbye was difficult for her. I was sure Asta and Yuno were sad too, since I had been there for them from the very moment they arrived at this church. My heart ached at the thought of leaving them.
I decided to rest for a few hours before visiting my friends in the village and others for a temporary goodbye. Tears welled up in my eyes as I thought about leaving the place and the people who had become my family. I knew this was an opportunity I couldn't pass up, but the pain of parting was almost unbearable.
"Stats"
==========================================
NAME: JULIAN
AGE:10
RACE: HUMAN
MAGIC: FIRE
MANA CORE: LIGHT RED
BODY POINTS:32
MANA POINTS:75
SPELLS: MANA SENSING, MANA REINFORCEMENT (BASIC->SEMI INTERMEDIATE ), FIRE WAVE, FIREBALL, FLAME BULLET, FLAME WHIP, SOLAR STRIKE
========================================================
The next morning, everyone was there to say goodbye to Julian. The children from the church and others were told that Julian would be gone for five years, but only a few knew the truth. Asta and Yuno somehow held back tears, as they were the most attached to Julian. Father and Sister Lily knew that his life had completely deviated from theirs, like a bird who learns to fly and leaves behind those who cannot.
Although Julian had made up his mind, he could not control his tears. This had been his home for the last ten years, the family he had created, and where he had made unforgettable memories.
"Take care, Father, Sister," Julian said, hugging them tightly.
"Asta, don't lose hope because you didn't manage to awaken your magic. I am sure you're destined for something greater. Remember that your body is your strongest weapon. Yuno, don't start crying again, and take care of the other children. Keep practicing your magic just as I taught you. The wind is all around you; use that to your advantage."
The bird who kept an eye on Julian since the beginning felt disheartened to see him leave.
"It's time," Sister Theresa said, stepping onto her broom.
"GOODBYE EVERYONE! NEXT TIME WE MEET, THE WORLD WILL KNOW ABOUT HAGE VILLAGE!" Julian shouted one last time before taking off.
But he didn't forget to one last time give the bird a short wave since he knew of it keeping an eye on him.
**********
"Where are we going, Sister? This isn't the way to the capital," Julian asked.
"We are going to the Grand Magic Zone. I am starting your training from this moment. To become a Magic Knight, there are skills of survival and adaptation that you must learn," Sister Theresa said, handing a book to Julian. "I will drop you in the Grand Magic Zone for you to survive alone. There is everything you need to survive written in this book. This lesson will last for a week. I heard that you took lessons from hunters; this should not be that difficult for you."
From Julian's knowledge of the Grand Magic Zone, the thought of staying there for seven days sent a chill down his spine.
"I saw you use a hovering technique during our fight, but I felt it needed more work. I will guide you towards completing that technique. Not everyone can fly without using support like a broom, so developing that technique will help you in the future. I want you to practice this technique every day in the forest and finally hunt down ten shadow wolves. I will be keeping an eye on you, so don't dare slack off."
"This woman is a demon," Julian screamed in his mind. How can she expect something from a 10-year-old that even adults would find difficult? 'If I complain, I feel she will make it more difficult for me.'
It was true that Julian aided hunters in setting traps or shooting from a distance, but he had never confronted a mana beast head-on. The Grand Magic Zone is a dangerous region of different biomes like rainforests, lava rivers, underground magical beast habitats, and more. It acts as the border between the kingdoms of Clover, Spade, Heart, and Diamond. People often lose control of their magic and direction because of the endless and chaotic ambient mana present.
It's a myth that this region did not exist before, but due to the curse of a dryad, this region formed as it is now. Even captains don't go there recklessly, and she wants him to go there hunting. She's insane, no wonder the Vermillion siblings are such beasts.
There are two kinds of beasts in this world: simple wild beasts and mana beasts. Mana beasts, as the name implies, can use mana, and the dangerous fact is that if provided with more mana, they evolve into a species completely made of mana. Physical attacks won't hurt them anymore; they can only be hurt by strong spells and advanced mana reinforcement. Shadow wolves are named after their speed, and their inherent nature is wind. They usually hunt in packs, but sometimes lone wolves are made responsible for scouting and extra hunting.
To complete this lesson, Julian had to use his mind. Even if the task was difficult, Julian was excited since the amount of natural mana there was more than anywhere else in the kingdom, so he would be achieving one of his goals there. Sister Theresa shook her head, seeing his reaction.
'What a weird brat,' she thought.