11 Water Saint

This game went on until they reached a gentle hill in the middle of nowhere with only a single tall tree growing on it.

'How did she find a place like this. Is there some kind of magic for reconnaissance like a thousand mile eye or something?' Rudeus wondered.

Roxy climbed off the horse and helped Rudeus down as well. She hitched the horse to the tree and walked away with Rudeus next to her.

"I will now cast the Saint-ranked water magic, Cumulonimbus. This technique is a magic that calls down a storm that creates lightning strikes alongside a violent tempest. You should be familiar with the incantation now, like we've practiced back at home."

Roxy then looked away "I will first demonstrate it then you will follow after. Since I am only demonstrating, I will only maintain the spell for a minute before dismissing it. You will have considered to have passed if you can make the rain last for an hour."

Rudeus nodded, "I understand, Instructor."

'So this it. The final test. Once I pass, I will have learned everything Roxy can teach me. She will probably leave soon after as well. I don't really want her to leave… should I purposely fail so that she will stay?'

'No, Instructor Roxy has given it her all to teach me. What kind of student would I be if I half-assed it at the last step just for my own selfish reasons? I will do it correctly, with all my might!'

"Oh great water spirit, the son of the lightning emperor who ascended to the skies! Fulfil my wishes, rain down your ferocious blessings, and show me your strength to this tiny existence! Let your godly hammer strike the anvil, and demonstrate your authority, and devour the earth with water! Ah, rain! Destroy and wash everything away!"

As she reached the end of her incantation, Rudeus could feel an immense amount of mana being emitted from Roxy's staff. Violent wind whipped around, almost forming a tornado with Roxy at the eye of the hurricane. Loose leaves were swept up from the field of grass they were on and flung into the air, following the motions of the strong winds.

Dark clouds rapidly replaced the previously white ones and the distinct smell that arrived before precipitation fell filled Rudeus' senses. A sudden shower appeared, raining heavily on the hill.

Rudeus looked at the scene with awe and some fear.

"Cumulonimbus!" Roxy declared, finally completing her incantation and activating the last step of her Saint-ranked Water magic.

The comparatively gentle rain was suddenly replaced with a violent squall. Previously strong winds strengthened further, turning into a savage gale that nearly carried Rudeus away had he not lowered his centre of gravity and layered his body with Mana Reinforcement.

Lightning crackled in the dark clouds, briefly illuminating the ominously dark skies and thunder roared from a distance. Suddenly, a streak of blue descended, as lightning struck down not far from their locations like Thor himself threw down Mjolnir with his full might.

'This… is Saint-ranked magic…?' Rudeus' eardrums buzzed and the dazzling lightning that had only appeared for an instant left a blurry streak in his vision.

Roxy's petite figure while maintain her final pose upon completion of her Saint-ranked magic resembled a priestess on the last step of her rain dance after having called down thunderous rain and terrible storms from her savage deity.

True to her words, Roxy only held the spell for a minute before waving her staff and dispelling the violent squall. The lightning and rain stopped as though God snapped his fingers to reveal bright daylight and white, fluffy clouds. The dark clouds disappeared, bringing forth the radiance of the Sun once more.

At this scale, Saint-ranked magic would look like acts of God to the uninitiated.

Roxy looked back at Rudeus, who was still slightly stunned from the display of such arcane might from his teacher.

She turned up her nose. Humbling Rudeus also felt quite good to her. This was how a magic apprentice is supposed to see their teacher, with awe and respect.

"You try now. Remember the incantations, and maintain your composure. If you suddenly stop halfway and your mana is disrupted, you might experience mana deviation as the magic power circulating in you rushes to neutralize your previous command."

Roxy examined their vicinity, "Thankfully we are in an area with no other people. I have no countermeasures that I can prepare to negate the effects of a Saint-rank spell… Are you ready?"

Rudeus pulled himself together and regained the clarity in his mind. "I am ready."

He unsheathed the magic sword that doubled as an arcane focus and held it vertically in front of him in a pseudo salute. Taking a deep breath, he began his incantation.

Like before, wind and rain came down before the incantation was even finished. Rudeus tried to remember what the meteorological process behind storms were, since it was something he had learned about in the past. But it was so long ago he had already forgotten about it, so he gave up.

"Cumulonimbus!"

With the final word uttered signalling the metaphorical descent of a thunder god, Rudeus memorized the movement of his mana behind the spell cast and continued pouring his mana into the formation.

Seeing the successful activation of the Saint-ranked Water spell, Roxy muttered a incantation under her breath and created earthen walls that covered the both of them. It was the Advanced Earth magic, Earth Fortress.

Roxy beams at Rudeus with pride, even though he hadn't yet successfully completed her test.

"The fortress will disappear after an hour, so you can stop the magic before then."

"Okay."

"Remember to control the clouds outside seriously for the entire duration, otherwise without continued sustenance from your mana, the strong wind will blow it away."

"I know, teacher. You've told me a dozen times to memorize the theory behind Cumulonimbus before we left."

Roxy narrowed her eyes and reached forward to pinch Rudeus' cheek.

"Don't be cheeky. You haven't passed yet."

The next hour passed uneventfully, if one discounted the pouring rain and lightning that occasionally struck and scorched the grass around them. One even directly crashed down on the Earth Fortress Roxy had created, but other than leaving scorch marks, the earthen walls held strong.

The initialization of the Saint-ranked spell was the most mana consuming, Rudeus observed. Maintaining the spell afterwards was only slightly draining. If he pushed himself, he could likely hold the storm for another ten hours before collapsing.

"Okay, you can dispel it now." Roxy informed him, before the Earth Fortress around them withdrew into the ground.

Rudeus perked up, having already been bored out of his mind for the last hour. Roxy did not want to talk too much, so that he wouldn't be distracted. So he could only entertain himself by thinking up more combos he could do with magic and swordsmanship. This was already his go-to hobby whenever he had nothing else to do.

He had roughly a dozen spells from each element under his belt, ranging from Beginner to Advanced. Oh, and one Saint-ranked Water spell now as well. He wasn't a math major but twelve to the power of four gave a result of over twenty thousand.

That meant the possible combinations between the spells he had learned was over twenty thousand… the possibilities weren't endless but it was pretty damn close if he added these spells to the swordsmanship techniques he had now mastered up to Advanced level.

Rudeus did not stop at cutting off his mana to the Cumulonimbus spell that was still raging. Instead, he dispelled it by moving the clouds away with his mana.

As the sky cleared and water droplets dripped from the brim of Roxy's hat, she smiled warmly at Rudeus and announced, "Congratulations. You can now call yourself a Water Saint-ranked magician with pride."

A warm feeling spread out from Rudeus' abdomen. A sense of fulfilment. Though not as impressive as his still developing Magic Sword style, he still felt pretty damn good about achieving this Saint-rank title bestowed upon him by his dear magic tutor.

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