It's the day of my final exam. It's hard to accept Roxy leaving after all the time we've spent together. I feel like crying, never wanting her to leave, but she needs to go to Pax and grow stronger.
Roxy has already mastered silent casting up to the elementary level and can perform silent water spells up to the intermediate level. Despite her doubts, she's a fast learner and a prodigy herself.
I head downstairs and see Roxy already preparing the horse for our departure.
"Do you really have to leave, Roxy? You could stay with me and get stronger," I plead as I stand in the doorway.
Roxy pauses, glancing back at me. "I can't stay here forever. I want to earn the title of your teacher, so I must embark on a journey of self-discovery. Since you taught me silent casting, I can become a skilled mage."
"But I didn't do much; it was all you. You learned silent casting so quickly; all I did was teach you the basics," I insist.
Roxy blushes at the compliment. "Regardless, I must go. Get ready; we leave once you're prepared."
"Sigh, okay."
After getting ready, I mount the horse. It feels strange since I've never ridden one in my past life. The old Rudeus feared going outside, but I, the improved version, have no issue with it. I've ventured beyond the gate with Roxy before and even lent a hand once.
Roxy and I ride in silence. I struggle to accept that Roxy will be absent for ten years. But I must come to terms with it. Exhausted by the emotions, I doze off on her back.
We arrive.
"Okay, Rudeus, I'll demonstrate a Saint-tier water spell, and I want you to replicate it," Roxy instructs.
"Alright, Roxy." I nod and activate my magic eye to observe her incantation.
"Oh, spirits of the magnificent waters, I beseech the Prince of Thunder! Grant my wish, bless me with your savagery, and reveal to this humble servant a glimpse of your power! Let fear strike the hearts of men as your divine hammer strikes its anvil and drenches the land! Come, oh rain, and wash everything away in your flood of destruction—Cumulonimbus!"
As Roxy finishes, a colossal storm cloud forms, rain pouring and winds whipping wildly. I brace myself to avoid being blown away. The mana swirling in the spell looks beautiful, like stars in the sky. But wait, won't the horse be hit by lightning?
I quickly erect an earth fort around the horse. When lightning strikes, the fort crumbles but shields the horse from harm.
Roxy notices and halts the spell. "Um, please don't tell your dad about this. He'd kill me if he knew I almost struck his horse with lightning."
"It's okay; your secret's safe with me." I offer a silly smirk and a thumbs-up.
"Alright, now replicate my spell and sustain it for an hour," Roxy commands.
"Okay, Roxy."
I raise my wand, memorize the spell, envisioning hot and cold air mixing to create a storm cloud. Rain starts pouring heavily, winds howling. I pour a significant amount of mana into the spell; thunder cracks, striking trees and patches of grass at random.
Maintaining the spell, thunder continues to roar. It nearly hits Roxy once; she sees the danger.
"RUDY, STOP THE SPELL!"
"Why? I'm confused; didn't you want me to maintain it for an hour?"
"STOP THE SPELL!" Roxy shouts urgently.
I cease the spell, and she rushes over.
"That was dangerous! Why did you pour so much mana into the spell? You could've caused a forest fire and burned everything."
Reflecting on my actions, I frown. "I just wanted to impress you, Roxy."
Roxy smiles warmly. "You impress me every day. But that was risky; you should know better than to play with high-level spells; you could've harmed us."
Ashamed, I look down. "I'm sorry, Roxy. I'll be more cautious with my spells."
"Don't beat yourself up, Rudeus; you passed. You're now a Saint-tier water magician."
Thrilled, I hug Roxy. "THANK YOU, ROXY! I couldn't have come this far without you."
Returning the hug, she says, "You would've made it here eventually; you're a prodigy like no other."
After our heartfelt moment, the mood grows somber as we return to the house. I don't want to part with Roxy; I want her by my side forever. But I must respect her decision to leave and learn to accept it.
As we arrive home, Paul and Zenith await us. I dismount, with Roxy following.
"Well, Rudy, it's time for us to part ways. I need to explore the world and advance my magic skills so I can truly call myself your teacher."
"Roxy, I'll miss you. Please stay safe," tears welling up as I embrace her tightly. She hugs me back, equally emotional. After our tearful farewell, Roxy departs, and I wave until she disappears from view.
"Well, Rudy, you'll see her again someday; don't be sad," Zenith consoles me.
"Yeah, you're right. I'm going to bed now; it's been quite a day."
Heading to my room, I resolve to focus more on my sword training and master my magic eye. Activating it again, I consider that the pain might be due to excessive mana output. If I reduce it, I could gradually adapt.
Lowering the mana flow, I observe the thin mist of mana in the air without discomfort. Tomorrow, I'll practice my healing magic outdoors. Holding my book, I venture out, listening to people gossip about a demon, likely Sylphie.
I rush over and find three children hurling mud balls at a younger girl.
"Get out, demon!"
"Leave our village!"
"Don't come back!"
Their hateful words and actions infuriate me. I create an earth dome around the girl, halting the mud balls.
"Why are you helping the demon?"
"Stop being a demon lover!"
"Tch, you brats! Why bully an innocent girl? Are you that clueless? She doesn't have a red jewel on her forehead, and she's obviously an elf," I scold them, urging them to leave.
They hesitate briefly but continue throwing mud at me.
"Sigh, I hoped to resolve this peacefully."
I retaliate, using water balls to knock them over and wind magic to blow them away.
Removing the earth dome, I see the girl covered in dirt.
"Hi, I'm Rudy.?"
"Uhh, m-my name is Sylph—"
"I already know it; don't waste your time. You're dirty; let me clean you up."
"O-okay."
Using water and fire, I create warm water to clean her hair and jacket, then use warm wind to dry her.
"Thank y-you."
"It's fine. If you want, I can be your friend and protect you from bullies."
"But then they won't play with you."
I scoff. "I wouldn't want to play with people who bully others."
"If you're sure, I'd like to be your friend."
Sylphie and I play tag for an hour before resting in a tree.
"Sylphie, stand up. Rudy, can you teach me what you did earlier?"
"Sure. What I did was magic; it's quite simple. You'll get the hang of it."
"YAY!"
Standing, she extends her hand. "Okay, to do this, imagine water—a lake or a bucket of water. Picture it and feel the mana flowing through you. Focus on it, channel it to your hand, and create a water ball like this."
"Okay, let me concentrate."
I'm skeptical; can she grasp this so quickly?
"Look, Rudy, I did it!" She jumps for joy, then faints.
"Well, I should've expected this outcome, even with the Laplace Factor."
Over the next few months, Sylphie and I play and practice magic together. I've also progressed to the intermediate level in Sword God.
I've almost beaten Paul the other day using magic, and I've unconsciously used Touki once as well. It's starting to come to me. I've been devoting all the time I can to the sword; I want to master it. I think Zenith has become worried about me because I'm spending less time in the house with them and more time out training with the sword. I've started bringing the wooden practice sword with me so I can become more comfortable.
"Rudy, can you battle me? I think I've got a good grasp on magic now," Sylphie asked eagerly.
Unsure, I looked around, trying to find a reason not to battle her. "Sigh, if you want, but you don't really have much experience, and you don't know how to use spells practically."
"Well, that's the whole point of this. I want to see how I match up against you," she insisted.
"Sigh, okay, but just one time. If you can land one clean hit, you win."
Sylphie jumped in joy, "Yay, thank you, Rudy!"
"If you can," I said sternly, stepping away and getting into a stance. The fight began with Sylphie shooting a water cannon at me. It was decently fast; if I were to dodge this before, I would've needed magic to do so.
Quickly sidestepping, Sylphie followed up with ice sickles. I blocked some with my sword and dodged the rest. She then used Quagmire to trap one of my feet while sending an ice ball at me, quickly moving in with a rock bullet.
Using Water God Style, I parried the ice ball, deflecting it into the ice sickles, and managed to break free from Quagmire. However, Sylphie sent another ice ball at me. As I went to break it, I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my head from a blunt impact.
"Ow, what was that?" I held my head, realizing too late that it was the rock bullet.
"I WIN!" Sylphie shouted in triumph.
"Huh? Oh, the rock bullet! Where was it?" I exclaimed.
Jumping in joy after her victory, Sylphie explained, "All I did was slow down the rock bullet so you'd forget about it. I kept sending other attacks to distract you. The only reason it worked was because you didn't have your magic eye activated."
"Wow, Sylphie, that was actually really smart. Your battle prowess is impressive," I said, walking over to her and rubbing her hair affectionately.
Enjoying my praise and head pat, Sylphie sat down under a tree. "Well, I still know you were holding back, Rudy. You didn't even cast a spell, so I still have a lot to learn."
"We both have our ways to go. Well, it's getting late, Sylphie. You should go home now," I suggested.
"Can't we stay longer, Rudy? I want to spend more time with you," Sylphie pleaded, looking at me with puppy-dog eyes.
"No, we have to go home. Your parents will worry. See you tomorrow, Sylphie," I replied firmly.
"Okay, see you tomorrow, Rudy," she said reluctantly.
Reflecting on the battle, I realized I needed to master my Demon Eye. If I'd had it on the whole time, I would never have been hit by that trick.
Arriving home, I noticed everyone was unusually quiet, as if something terrible had happened. Paul was in a corner, and Zenith looked stressed. I instantly knew what was going on.
"Mommy, what's going on?" I feigned ignorance.
"Your father has done something irredeemable with the maid," Zenith sighed, clearly distressed.
Knowing the situation well, I approached my mom. "Mother, I don't think we should blame Lilia. It was Paul's fault. We know how Paul is, and we shouldn't blame Lilia for any of this. Just forgive Lilia and scold Paul."
I gave a lazy speech, but I knew it was enough to convince Zenith that we should let Lilia stay. After all of that, Paul was banned from romantic activities for two months, plus he had to marry Lilia.
That whole situation was a headache I didn't really want to deal with. I needed to focus on training. Plus, I had two big goals in mind: mastering gravity and lightning magic. But first, I needed to expand my mana reserves and learn how gravity magic worked. It was kind of on the back burner for now.
It was almost time for me to go and meet Eris. It had been a couple of months, and I'd taught Sylphie a lot. She'd become very attached to me; it was like she had shackles on her legs. She often came to my house, watched me practice swordsmanship with my father, and played around.
I'd recently noticed that Sylphie had a crush on me. I'd been teasing her in my own playful way, brushing her hand accidentally or giving her a passionate hug. She always froze up, and it was incredibly cute. Since my defeat at her hands, I'd kept my Demon Eye activated. It took a while to get used to, but now I could keep it activated at a low level without discomfort.
When I first arrived here, I was excited and giddy. But now, I'd become more like my old self — more nonchalant about things. I guess I'd gotten over the initial shock, and my rose-tinted glasses had come off.
"Rudy… Rudy," Zenith interrupted my thoughts.
"Huh? Oh…" I snapped out of my reverie.
"Rudy, you know, lately you've been spacing out more, and your attitude has changed. You used to be such a ray of sunshine. Is it because of Roxy?" Zenith asked with concern.
"Sigh, no, Mom. I'm just in my rebellious teenager phase," I chuckled lightly, trying to lighten the mood.
Everyone at the table cringed at my terrible sarcasm.
"Master Rudeus, can you please stop making terrible jokes at the table? It's ruining my appetite," I deadpanned.
"My joke wasn't even that bad. It was so funny you can't appreciate good jokes," I retorted, feeling slightly annoyed.
"Father, I have a request," I changed the subject.
"Rudy, is this another bad joke?" Paul raised an eyebrow.
"No, I want a job. I want to go to the magic university with Sylphie," I stated seriously.
"Well, I can arrange that. Give me a day. I'm surprised you didn't ask for the money upfront," Paul remarked.
"I know we don't have enough to pay for me and Sylphie. It's expensive, but I can earn it myself," I explained confidently.
Paul looked shocked at how responsible I seemed. "Well, looks like I raised you right, son."
"Yeah, sure," I muttered under my breath, recalling all the talks he'd had about girls and how he'd bedded many women.
I walked outside, grabbed my practice sword, and wandered through the village. I helped people out, making it rain and running errands. After a while, I got bored and walked into the forest — a place my dad didn't want me to go.
I came here every day to practice my sword skills, magic, and healing magic. I'd been practicing a more unique sword style that focused on one hand, leaving my other hand free to cast magic. It was very useful and powerful; I could boost my sword swings with wind magic, making them stronger.
Today, I wanted to try gravity magic. Sitting down on a rock, I thought about gravity — everything I'd learned about it in my past life, how it worked, the gravitational pull the Earth exerted. I pondered how I could harness its power.
Focusing all my power, I tried to crush the rock in front of me. I'd been doing this for a while now with no progress. I imagined crushing the rock under my grip, and it cracked a bit. Focusing my Demon Eye, I saw heavy concentrations of my mana crushing the rock under its pressure. I added more and more mana until it finally smashed.
My mana pool was pretty vast now; I'd been draining it every day. But I was still nowhere near Canon Rudeus. I started to sweat after using gravity magic; I wasn't fatigued or in pain, but I could tell it had taken a considerable amount of mana from me.
——
I've been in this forest for a couple of hours, using my Touki and refining it to harm these monsters, then spending time to heal them with healing magic. Healing magic has to be my worst type of magic; it's very hard for me. I've been stuck at the intermediate level for a while now, and I can't make heads or tails of it. For now, this level is sufficient; I can heal gashes that I got from killing monsters in a couple of minutes.
My sword abilities right now are at the advanced rank. I've been trying to master the Sword of Sound, but I don't even know how to start. So, I'll wait until I meet Ghislaine tomorrow; she should help me. I'm definitely going to beat Paul in a fight; I really want to embarrass him. It's so easy to provoke him.
The next day, I didn't do any training, wanting to be in perfect condition for the fight with my dad. He called me outside, and I rushed out with a big grin on my face, knowing that it was about to go down.
"So, Rudy, what if I told you I was separating you from Sylphie?" Paul asked.
"I'd say, fight me," I chuckled.
"Tch, I thought so."
Paul rushed at me, sword in hand. I'd seen this move a thousand times. I easily blocked it, pushed his sword down, and blasted him with hot wind. He winced, closing his eyes for a second. I took that opportunity and rushed at him full speed, hitting him with a Touki-infused slash. He staggered back, feeling my blade.
"Tch, when did you learn to use Touki like this?" Paul grunted in frustration.
"Haha, I don't know, when did I, father?" I teased.
Paul, looking frustrated, came at me from the side at full speed. I caught him in a Quagmire, halting his advance.
"Tch, Paul, you can't beat me with such a weak attack. You need to step it up," I taunted.
Paul's pride shattered, and he jumped out of the Quagmire, appearing behind me, going for my back. I turned around and blocked his attack, but I was still pushed back a couple of meters.
Damn, he's still so strong. Paul used this advantage to press me, fainting and striking my gut. I staggered back, landing on one knee.
Fuck, he's pressing me so hard. I'll have to fight seriously now. I parried his next attack, taking all the momentum and Touki from his blade and using Water God Style, I went for a strike. Paul instinctively blocked my attack, but I wasn't done. I used gravity magic to make my blade heavier, pushing him and forcing him to drop his sword.
"Rudy, what was that? It felt like your sword got way heavier," Paul grunted.
"Stop yapping."
I rushed at Paul, going for a knockout blow. Using all my speed in one attack, boosted by wind magic to go even faster, I looked like a bullet in human form. Paul had no way to stop me; he got hit directly by my attack. I ended up behind him as he fell unconscious.
"I'm going to Roa on my own accord," I declared confidently.
I looked cool saying that. Ghislaine definitely thought I was a badass now. I stepped into the carriage and saw Ghislaine with her huge frame and wonderful array of muscles.
"Wow, it's like… wow," I stammered, stunned. Seeing her in person was way different from the anime.
"So, kid, are you going to stop ogling me and read this letter?" Ghislaine smirked.
"O-oh, y-yes, okay, I'll read it," I replied, sounding like a shy high school girl.
"You really are Paul's son," Ghislaine teased.
"If you're reading this, I'm dead."
"Well, you probably are now," Ghislaine laughed at my joke. "Rudy, I'm sending you to live with my cousin and teach his daughter. I need to send you away because Sylphie has gotten too attached. She needs to become her own person. After five years, you can come back. Also, the musclehead is mine. You can have the daughter."
"No, I think I want both," I joked.
Ghislaine looked at me with an unimpressed face.
"Well, kid, you'll have to wait before you can have a piece of me."
I looked out of the carriage and saw the gates to Roa. Finally, this is where my life truly begins.
A/N: The story is going to start divulging from cannon now
