Prodigy vs. Genius.

Novia walked into a long all-white hallway where there was nobody else on that floor. She reached the end of the hallway and there was a door in front of her.

"Master, may I come in?" Novia asked as she stared at the white door made of stone.

"Come in, Novia," Lenin answered from behind the door.

Novia put her right hand on the door and there was a complex magic circle engraved on it. She looked at the incomplete magic circle and tried to fill the formation to enter the room. She loved challenges and that was why Lenin made it for her.

Novia completed the magic circle and it opened the door in front of her.

"I remember it took you six hours when the first time I put a magic circle on that door. Now it only took you seven seconds..." Lenin looked at Novia who stood at the door. "Was that too easy?" She crossed her arms, realizing that Novia had grown smarter each day.

"I have become your disciple for 14 years, Master. I can see the patterns and it becomes predictable," Novia answered as she stayed at the door.

"Only 14 years, Novia. People who have followed me for almost 40 years, they can't decipher that kind of magic circle," Lenin pointed out as she stared at Novia. "You're different from everyone I know. You're a prodigy," she added as she pointed at the sofa, telling Novia to sit there.

Novia and Lenin sat across from each other with a small table that separated them. Lenin brewed tea for Novia and herself using telekinesis ability.

"Has Rasmus reached out to you?" Lenin asked as she held her cup of tea.

"He did, yesterday. You asked me to observe him and report it to you, so I did," Novia nodded as she looked at the floating cup of tea in front of her.

"And? How did go?" Lenin raised her brows and took a sip of her tea.

"You said that I'm a prodigy, but most of the people here in the Magic Tower and the City of Knowledge, they're all prodigies. When you put all prodigies in a place, they're no longer one and become average people," Novia took the cup and looked at her reflection in the tea.

Lenin furrowed a bit and wondered where Novia was trying to go with the words she had said.

"Rasmus is a genius, just like you, Master. Prodigies learned and did exactly what they were taught or studied. They see things like a straight line path, but geniuses, they learned and became creative," Novia pointed out with a stoic expression. "He has mastered magic formation and circle. Now he uses them to create something unbelievable," she added as she pulled out the paper that Rasmus had given her.

Lenin stared at the magic circle on the paper and made the same expression as Novia when she first saw it. She grabbed the paper so she could see it from up close. Although she had observed it up close, she couldn't understand the purpose of the first two formations in the circle.

Lenin drew the magic circle to test it out because she wondered what kind of spell it would release. She was startled when lightning bolts came from the magic circle and destroyed the wall in front of her. She wasn't in disbelief about the spell, but rather the concentrated and centered lightning bolts that struck the wall.

"This magic circle is so simple for a spell to release lightning bolts..." Lenin looked at the paper in her right hand.

"Yes. Rasmus's magic circle only needed 7 rings of formations to achieve this. The one that we have, needs 14 rings of formations, and not to mention it drains a lot of Mana," Novia nodded in agreement.

"Lightning spell is one of the most powerful spells, but nobody can control its trajectory or where it strikes. It's unreliable for most cases, but this..." Lenin paused and tried to comprehend what had just happened. "I have been studying to control lightning with Mana, and this is my latest research," she said as she began to draw the magic circle.

Novia watched Lenin draw the magic circle in the air. She was baffled when Lenin drew 18 rings of formations. When she wanted to understand each ring, Lenin released the spell. She saw the long wall shattered and torn into small pieces in the blink of an eye.

"This is my latest research. Summoning multiple lightning at the same time to prevent the spell from missing its target. It costs five times more Mana and it has a drawback to the caster," Lenin explained of the magic circle that she made as she held her trembling hand. "You said he's like me?" She glanced at Novia. "He has surpassed me..."

Novia stood there and couldn't believe Lenin had admitted that she was inferior to Rasmus's understanding of magic. The Great Sage that she looked up to as her mentor paled in comparison to Rasmus's genius mind.

"I'm sorry to say this, but your Master has become old and boring," Lenin sighed as she looked at Novia. "You on the other hand are still young. Take all the knowledge that you can from me before you decide to leave," she added as she sat down.

"Even a dog is loyal to its savior and master. If I leave you behind, I'm worse than a dog," Novia responded with a stoic expression after she calmed down. "You saved me from that hellish place. You gave me a new life," she took a sip of her tea.

"I didn't raise you like dogs, using leashes to prevent them from running away. I raised you like birds where I taught and inspired you to fly, then when you have grown older and your wings ready, you have to spread them and be free," Lenin said with a serious expression.

Novia didn't have anything to say because she didn't want to argue with Lenin. She looked at Lenin as more than just a mentor, and she didn't want to leave for a few reasons that she couldn't say.

"Don't become like us, staying in this place of so-called knowledge. We believe we are wise because we know more, but wiseness doesn't only come from what we hear or read, it comes from experience. Stuck in this place with no life experience, only knowledge from books," Lenin leaned as she massaged her nose bridge.

"Master, you talked a lot more than usual. Is something bothering your mind?" Novia asked because she had just realized that Lenin was a bit on the edge.

Lenin stopped her hand from sipping the cup of tea. She had forgotten that Novia was a sharp child since she was young.

"I received this," Lenin pulled a letter from thin air, a letter with the Angelis family's seal on it as the seal. "And this as well," she pulled out another letter, but this time it had the Sancticus family's seal on it.

Novia couldn't hide her stoic expression the moment she was presented with two letters from the two major families in Neva. She couldn't help but wonder at the content of each letter that made Lenin on the edge.

"What's in the letters, Master?" Novia couldn't keep her eyes away from the letters on the table.

Lenin put down the cup of tea and used her telekinesis ability to grab a bottle of whiskey from the cabinet. She needed something to drink because the matter was something she only heard about from her ancestors.

"I remembered back when you were still a child that you wanted to live up north because of the never-ending winter," Lenin said as she poured the whiskey into a cup. "You have never been to the North, so what do you think?" She lifted the cup and stared at Novia.

"Are you sending me off to the North? Is this why you're talking about spreading my wings?" Novia furrowed and looked at Lenin weirdly.

"No, the Holinesses are requesting both of us to go to the North, Novia. We are going to the North in a week," Lenin answered as she kept taking a few sips of the whiskey.

"That's so sudden?" Novia raised her right brow. "But, seeing that both families are requesting Master to go all the way to the North, this isn't something trivial, right? And when both families are involved and the North as well, is it about demonic beasts?" She narrowed her eyes.

"Neither I know the details. We should know when we are there," Lenin answered as she sighed. "I hope it's nothing serious. At least we are allowed to wish for that," she added as she closed her eyes, but deep down she knew they wouldn't ask her for something trivial.