Chapter 12: Authority over Time

After a gruesome four hours of talking, the lecture finally ended. 

"To the spectators, I hope my lecture helps with your future. I hope to see you all in the Mage Association."

The Mage Association refers to the council of mages who govern all things magic-related. They are the ones who either approve or reject new spells that were created to add to today's magic spellbooks. 

They are against the use of forbidden magic and necromancy. That's because forbidden magic involves messing with the souls of others and using their powers after death and necromancy involves using the dead as your army. In other words, both are related to the dead.

The Magic association consists of many high-ranked mages who rank at the 7th stage and have seven elite stars from the Mage Association each. The stars represent their exact mana grade stage. My master is at the 6th mana grade stage which means he's pretty strong. There's a significant gap between the 6th, 7th and 8th mana grade stages.

The students quickly got up and said farewell to Viria. After she left, Kenia and I left along with the other students.

"Will you be fine on your own?"

Kenia patted my head with a smile. 

I nodded.

"I'm still going to the battle arena later on."

"I see. Don't wander too far now. Someone might kidnap you because you're so cute~"

I smiled wryly as she waved and walked away.

"What's next…"

I checked the leaflet for any other interesting things. The time was already late afternoon. The battle arena started in ten minutes.

'I am kind of hungry.'

I rubbed my belly which made growling noises.

"Hmm…" I took out a silver coin and looked around. "Could there be a food stand somewhere?"

I curiously looked around as I walked past the crowd gathered around the many attractions. 

'They even have a student council.'

I saw a young man along with other students gathered around their table.

On it stood "Student Council".

I was a prefect at school once. I was never a person who was born to lead others so it wasn't a good thing that I was selected. There were much more talented people with better leadership than me. The only reason I even stayed was because of a girl.

I shrugged. 

'It's not like I want to join when I enrol.'

After walking for a while, I realized I was lost. 

–…!

I heard voices coming from the back of a gym building. 

–You dare bump into Lord Alfred and think you'd get away, huh!?

I saw three students of the academy ganging up on a little girl. I could tell from their clothes that they were first years.

'Is that a noble's kid?'

I looked at the haughty brat who stood there while his two lackeys kicked the girl.

"I-I'm sorry! T-They wanted to take me. They were bad people."

"Shut up!"

The kid they called Alfred shouted and grabbed the girl's face. He checked her face out with a discerning gaze.

"Ho. You're pretty cute. Hey boys."

"Yes?"

"Let's raise this girl then we can make her our toy. Whaddya say?"

"Kukukuku."

"Perfect."

The girl trembled and hugged her body.

'What the fuck…'

It was so creepy the way he said it. 

With a sigh, I walked towards them.

"Hey."

"Huh? Another kid?"

One of the bigger lackeys noticed me.

"Leave her alone."

The young master looked at me with a smirk.

"Hah! Look at this guy playing hero. Oh! Is this the development where the MC saves the princess in distress?"

He arrogantly walked over towards me and placed his hand on my head. 

"Run along before I cut you."

He showed his short sword on his waist as did his lackeys.

I sighed and smacked away his hand.

"What the–!? You little bastard–"

BOOM—!

I threw a small flame into his face. The flame exploded with a small boom followed by his scream.

"Lord Alfred!"

"Little bastard!"

Before they ran at me, I casted an intermediate rank spell. 

"[Ice Lance]"

Three ice lances appeared out of thin air.

They stopped in their tracks. 

"Leave now."

My voice carried a hint of coldness.

"What the hell… isn't this just a kid?"

"How the hell can he cast silently…?"

They walked around me towards their screaming young master who was holding his face.

"You little shit… Y-You'll regret this! You better prepare yourself to be killed when I find you next time!"

The young master shouted when they were a few metres away from me. When I lifted my hand, they hurriedly ran away.

The girl looked up at me silently.

I helped her up and dusted her clothes. She had blonde hair and green eyes. The robe she wore looked worn out and tattered.

"Are you okay?"

She nodded and awkwardly averted her eyes.

"T-Thank you…"

"It's okay."

Before I could ask her name, two people called out to me.

"There you are!"

"Clyde!"

Arthur and Arielle ran towards the two of us.

◇◇

The girl's name is Erica. She apparently snuck into the premises and was chased down by the guards and had to run away.

She bumped into that bastard, Alfred by accident but the latter took that as reason to hit her.

Arielle said that Erica should join us. The latter refused in a fluster thinking she'd be a bother. In the end, she came with us.

"Waah."

Erica looked around in amazement as we entered the stadium. There were thousands of people already gathered in their seats, ready to watch the students fight.

We eventually ended up at the fighting arena where the first to fifth years will be doing their demonstrations. It's randomly matched so there's a chance that a mage could be in battle with a warrior type or archer. 

We were able to get our own seats.

The goal of these demonstrations is also to help the children by showing them how to fight. It might have that goal but that doesn't mean it isn't any less bloodier than a real duel. Opponents even break each other's bones or burn each other. Healing magic is extremely effective against these types of injuries so there's no worries there.

"""""OOOOOOH!"""""

A beautiful elf girl walked up to the stands. She had gorgeous white hair that fluttered in the wind. Her face looked like it was painted or sculptured by a master artist. 

'Wait, a high elf?'

Granny Solphia mentioned something about their princess being one of the only living high elves today.

High elves have longer ears that are far droopier than regular elves. They are also extremely rare but have exceptional magical abilities. They are much more efficient in magic than humans. It's no wonder they are loved by nature and mana.

Naturally my eyes were drawn to her peculiar eyes. She had this type of lime green eyes that I've never seen for the first time in this world. 

Well, having such eyes means that you're adept at spirit magic. That's what granny Solphia told me. Judging by her kind of green eyes, she must be at the 5th grade mana stage. As expected from an elf.

By the way, no one will know I can cast spirit magic by my eyes alone. Spirit magic is supposed to be an elven ability so it's not that common for humans to be capable of it. I'm not sure why my eyes aren't as bright as hers. Mine would probably be as bright as gazing at the afternoon sun since my mana is at the 8th grade mana stage.

I have yet to test my powers.

'I wonder how powerful I am… Can I perhaps summon a Monarch Spirit?'

The elf was up against another mage girl.

'They're balanced. Only skill will matter at this point.'

Although spirit mages are certainly cheats, they only experience a power boost once they reach 6th grade mana stage. Since I acquired 8th grade mana immediately after reincarnating, my power is sealed for the time being. If I remember correctly, the old man said that my power would even one day change the tide of a war.

'Isn't that an exaggeration?'

"We should put on a show for the children. So do not hold back." The elven princess said and smiled. It could be taken as an insult since she's blatantly telling her opponent she'll never win if she doesn't use her full power.

Sure enough, her opponent flew into a state of rage and conjured ice spears. 

"Low intermediate magic –"

"Too late!"

Vines shot up from the ground and flew towards the other mage girl. 

"Kuh!"

The other mage hurriedly took out a barrier scroll. Scrolls exist for mages who can't cast fast enough so that was a smart move instead of dodging. 

The elf girl summoned two guardian spirits. One glowing red and the other blue.

Lesser Spirit Monarchs. These types are two ranks below the absolute monarchs like Undine and Ifrit which are capable of changing the very physics of the world.

"Go! Heat and Depth!" the elf girl screamed their names to attack. 

"----!!" The spirits stopped and turned their gazes up.

'Fuck. Don't look at me like that! They'll be suspicious!'

They had such a strange look in their eyes when they made eye contact with me.

"What are you doin–!"

Before the elf girl could finish, a fireball hit her body, causing huge explosions.

The spirits regained their focus and dispersed the smoke.

"WHAT!?"

The opponent screamed since her spell didn't work on her foe. 

The elf girl looked where the spirits were gazing at earlier. She met my eyes and then her face looked at me and the spirits in confusion. 

She then shook her head and then spirits gathered around her. 

"Get ready!!"

Her spirits combined their spells which is amazing considering that they are fire and water. The opponent had a panicked expression but then it turned into determination.

"Flame storm!" The elf shouted.

The opponent fired an ice attribute spell.

It looked like that girl wasn't thinking of the consequences and wanted to show off. The high elf's spirits fired their spells.

The spell collided causing smoke to rise into the air.

The elf girl wasn't finished and didn't wait for the smoke to settle.

"Burst forth! Heat!"

The red spirit fired a torrent of flames towards the smoke.

"Oh, no."

Erica whispered besides me. 

'She sensed it too.'

I sensed an abnormal amount of mana inside the smoke when I heard something similar to porcelain being snapped.

My worries were correct.

–!!!

A giant blue ball of flames instantly headed for the elf girl. It seemed she didn't expect her opponent to keep resisting as she tried to dodge. 

Blue flames mean the energy of the heat are extremely dense and concentrated. Blue meant the fire was at its strongest. That girl must've used all her mana to throw that spell.

"Stop the spell, Depth!"

The elven girl called forth her water spirit and tried casting a spell from behind. The spirit threw water spell at it.

But–

With an agonizing scream, her two spirits vanished. 

"T-The people!"

Erica pointed at the direction the spell was going. I saw the mage girl finally appear from the smoke. Her entire body was covered in blood. Yeah, she definitely used a drug to force her mana to increase. 

A little light flickered above Erica's finger but I couldn't pay attention to it.

I saw the girl mouth the words: "Die, filthy elf."

'She's one of those people who hates demihumans huh.'

Was she actually planning on killing the girl and making it look like an accident? 

I quickly got up. The people were trying to escape from the spell which was fast approaching.

Judging from the intense heat, that spell was equivalent to a High ranking spell. 

'Shit, they'll die if someone doesn't do something!'

I got up.

A clock sounded in my ears. I saw a little green spirit in front of my eyes.

"Huh?"

A familiar gray light blinded me for a second. 

Lightborn.

Did it activate on its own? Or did the spirit activate it for me?

The world seemed so slow and empty even as there were people around me. 

The ability to stop time. A technique given to me as a gift. I wasn't happy about being given such an important task like fetching the hero though.

I slowly lifted my hand and pointed it to the spell's direction.

'Should I blast it with stronger firepower? Or get the people out of the way?'

The technique only slowed down time to a millionth of a second for four seconds so I didn't have many options.

"If it's the former then people might get hurt but if it's the latter than it'll take too much time."

It might be four seconds but that doesn't mean I can hold it for that long since it's my first time casting Lightborn.

My voice sounded cold in the abyss of time-space.

"Huh?"

My mind suddenly shifted its gears and formulated a rune inside my head. 

[Mana Bending]. Despite the name, the effects are simply to break down the core structure of the spell and turn it into pure mana. The technique only works for lower rank spells.

'But I'm not like everyone else.'

Maybe it was my ego talking or something. I believed I could shape the rune spell on my own and strengthen its effect.

My right arm subconsciously started glowing white. 

–Absorb

–Take into body!

The childish voices resonated in my mind.

"Absorb…? I can do that?"

Break down its veins which shaped the patterns. Release the mana nucleus inside the spell's core to force its energy out. Absorb that energy and make it my own.

I didn't know why I knew what to do. It's just came to me somehow.

TSSSSSS—!

The blue flames started breaking down at my will as the white light from my right arm entered the spell's core.

It wasn't long after that I successfully managed to perfect Mana Bending and even improve it. 

◇◇◇

"Huh?"

The elf, Miya who was crouching in hopes to avoid the spell looked up.

"…"

The entire arena was still in chaos but the source of all that chaos seemed to have vanished. 

'Where is it?'

She only saw people running out of the arena in fear of the spell hitting them.

"Huh? What happened?"

A few high ranking mages of the royal court arrived on the scene immediately after they sensed the dangerous spell.

"T-T-The wand…" The one who was the cause of the spell was muttering in disbelief. "My precious wand… I had to sacrifice my precious wand to cast that…"

She already knew the consequence of trying to kill a royal. She wanted to kill the Elven princess and make it look like an accident since the smoke was covering everyone's vision. Despite the treaty between the nations, some still hate other races.

"You…"

The head official glared at the girl.

She quietly lowered her head.

The worst punishment she could receive is having her mana core destroyed. If that doesn't satisfy the elves then her entire family might be executed. 

The knights quickly took the girl away by her arms.

Miya who was still sitting on the ground sensed a familiar sensation in the air.

'Spirit Magic? From where? There shouldn't be any other elves besides me in this kingdom…'

With confusion in her heart, Miya exited the arena.

-

We came outside the arena after what happened. I was able to successfully absorb the mana from the spell using Mana Bending. 

Needless to say I was exhilarated. I was able to perform a rune spell not even a day after learning it. Rune spells are a type of pseudo magic crafted by humans of the past. What they do is take runes from the Red Abyss dungeon and create their own spells out of those runes. 

This naturally means that all runes that are found and deciphered are different.

There have never been any findings of God rank magic in runes though. The entire continent would be in an uproar if another god rank spell was found.

"That was so scary. I thought someone might get hurt." Erica muttered and sighed in relief. 

'What was that light she used?'

It was strange that a small light similar to the sun appeared above her finger.

"This is my stop."

When we were walking around the commoner district with Erica, she spoke to us.

"This place?"

Arielle asked in disbelief.

The place we ended up at was the slums. There have been a few homeless people who tried to follow us. After showing them I could cast magic, they instantly ran away.

'This place stinks… How can such a girl live here?'

"Yes. I'm glad I made it back in time. Uncle Danny would get mad if I stay out too late." Erica turned towards me and fidgeted. "Thank you for what you did… That young master was really scary."

"No problem." I smiled.

"Well, I better get going… Um, is it alright if we become friends?"

Arielle chuckled.

"Of course!"

 Erica made a relieved smile before running into the dark alley. 

"Poor girl…"

"…"

Arielle muttered but I kept quiet.

We were on our way back to the carriage that was waiting for us.

 "Is something wrong?"

Arthur spoke to me as I was deep in thought.

"Ah? Oh, it's just..." I thought about what I saw on top of Erica's finger. "Did you guys feel the power Erica almost released in the arena?"

Both of them tilted their heads.

"What power?"

I thought about how I should say it. Wouldn't people freak out if they knew of this?

I stopped walking and looked both of them in the eyes. 

"I saw Erica use holy light magic."

"Huh?"

Both looked at me in confusion.

The holy light attribute is one of the rarest attributes in this world. Even rarer than human spirit mages. That light in the divinity magic proved that it wasn't normal divinity. Divinity is mainly used by the church. Throughout history, there have never been anyone capable of casting magic of that caliber.  

The only one who could, however…

"The Saintess…" I whispered. "I think Erica is the next Holy Saintess of this generation."

"What!?"

Arielle shouted before I covered her mouth. We were surrounded by prying ears.

I didn't know if Erica knew of her powers or not. 

"For now, keep this a secret. Okay?"

The three of us quietly made our way back to the carriage where Lithia waited for us.

'I just encountered a living legend.'