Chapter 20: I Need Face Too

Hughes looked at Audrey with a smile and encouraged her

"Didn't you learn magic since you were young? Since sister Asuro is willing to teach you today, you should go with her."

"Sister Asuro is a very powerful mage. She's even more powerful than father. Many people don't even have the right to be looked at by her. If you follow her, I guarantee that you will be the most powerful female mage in the younger generation of the Imperial City."

Hughes tried his best to maintain the smile on his face, even though his heart was still filled with bitterness.

If it was before today, Hughes would definitely not have agreed to Audrey learning magic from Asuro.

He was confident that when he grew up, he wouldn't be weaker than anyone else.

By then, he would personally teach Audrey and help his sister realize her dream of becoming a mage.

However, when he truly experienced Asuro's strength today, he changed his mind.

In the imperial capital, there was a total of eight saint magisters on the surface other than the mages in the anti-magic Research Institute.

Three of them were affiliated with the Royal Family while two belonged to Norton's group of military nobles.

Among the remaining three, two Saint Magisters came from the Mage Guild. They belonged to the neutral faction.

As for the last one, it was the Emperor of the Hiro Empire, Napoleon VII himself!

Before he witnessed Asuro's strength, Hughes naively thought that since everyone was a holy magister, the mages who practiced the anti-magic stone might be stronger than ordinary mages but they were that not much stronger.

However, when Hughes felt the boundless magic power from Asuro's body, he finally understood the gap between ordinary mages and anti-magic mages.

Although Hughes didn't know where his father's confidence to fight against the emperor came from, he knew very well that Audrey was an ordinary girl without any cultivation. Once the war started, her safety would be greatly threatened.

With Hughes's current strength, he was completely unable to protect Audrey in the chaotic situation that was destined to come.

In his opinion, the person who could protect Audrey the most was this seemingly unreliable but extremely powerful woman in front of him.

Hughes knew Asuro very well.

Three years ago, when Hughes failed to awaken elemental affinity, Asuro had sought Hughes out.

At that time, in order to convince Hughes to acknowledge her as his teacher, Asuro had produced countless pieces of evidence to prove that she had the ability to help Hughes return to his peak.

Unfortunately, Hughes had not yet recovered from the excitement of the awakening ceremony at that time and did not trust anyone at all.

After returning to the Duke's mansion, Hughes and Norton had a discussion about how to enter the anti-magic Research Institute.

During that discussion, Norton mentioned Asuro to Hughes.

From Norton's description, Hughes learned that Asuro had no desire for worldly power at all.

There were only two things she loved most in her life.

One was training, and the second was taking in disciples.

Norton had heard from Hughes that Asuro had once wanted to take Hughes in as a disciple, but Hughes had refused.

Norton was so angry that he couldn't say anything for a long time, and the conversation had come to an end.

Now, because of a chance encounter, Asuro had the intention of taking Audrey in as a disciple. The current situation was so unstable, so how could Hughes not agree on Audrey's behalf.

"Brother, I don't want to leave. I want to stay you!"

Audrey looked at Hughes with a bitter expression. Her eyes even began to tear up.

Audrey's intuition told her that once she left with this woman in front of her, she wouldn't be able to see her brother for a very long time.

It wasn't easy for Hughes to walk out of his isolation. She hadn't turned Hughes into the lively, cheerful, and confident brother she used to have. She didn't want to leave.

"How did you..."

"Eh, how troublesome."

Before Hughes could finish his sentence, Asuro stretched out a finger and pointed at the center of his and Audrey's brows.

"You guys are making me so uncomfortable. Only idlers like you can tolerate such an inefficient way of communicating."

"This is a spell that I've recently developed. It allows you to feel each other's true thoughts."

Asuro took a deep breath and said calmly, "I'll count to three:

"On the count of three, both of you should let your guard down at the same time and quickly say your reasons in your hearts."

Hum!

Three seconds later, invisible ripples spread out in all directions. Hughes and Audrey's consciousnesses were linked together.

Half a minute later, Asuro retracted her index finger, which was between their brows, and said languidly, 

"Have you thought it out? Hurry and give me an answer."

Hughes took a glance at Audrey, and the latter understood.

"Teacher Asuro, I'll go with you."

In the half a minute just then, Audrey had truly felt Hughes's emotions. She also knew the real reason why Hughes wanted her to learn from Asuro.

After sharing Hughes's emotions, Audrey, who was only thirteen years old, quickly grew up.

Although she didn't know why Hughes was afraid, she had felt the authenticity of that fear.

In order to make Hughes stop worrying about her, Audrey immediately made a decision -- she wanted Asuro to be her teacher.

"That's good. Let's go."

Asuro took Audrey's little hand and walked forward.

Hughes stood there quietly as he watched the two of them leave.

Audrey, you must follow your teacher obediently. The world is about to change.

…

At the corner of the street that Hughes couldn't see, Asuro held Audrey's hand and found a bench to sit on.

"Little girl, your teacher has given you a task."

Audrey looked at Asuro in a daze, thinking to herself, haven't I not acknowledged you as my master yet? Why did you give me a task?

But on the surface, Audrey still nodded obediently.

"Teacher, feel free to instruct me. As long as it's something that I can do, I will do my best to do it."

"Hahaha, you are indeed my good disciple."

Asuro patted Audrey on the shoulder with a beaming smile. She said in a tone that sounded like she was trying to abduct a little girl:

"What you need to do is very simple. After your brother is admitted to the Royal Academy of the Hiro Empire, you need to trick him... and bring him to my research institute."

"Trick... teacher, what do you want to do to my brother!"

Audrey looked at Asuro in horror, her voice raised by an octave.

Asuro smiled embarrassedly and touched her face. She said shyly,

"I want to take him as my disciple. You don't know that your brother's talent is too insane, especially now. He's even better than he was three years ago

"However, it's not easy for me to say it. After all, he rejected me once."

Asuro looked up to the sky and let out a long sigh. She no longer had the cold temperament of a clear autumn.

"After all, I need face too."