"M-Me? Becoming an assistant of an academy professor…?"

This naturally left Lauran speechless. She had grown up as a commoner and barely lived above the poverty line. She probably thought that her average life would continue until she eventually died exactly as she lived.

'But I can't let that happen. The world needs to see you.' Adrianna was passionate about having to guide the rough gem in front of her eyes.

She would thoroughly polish and make this gem shine even brighter than any elite mage alive today.

Perhaps it was her selfish desire because whenever she remembered Lauran's power, she would instinctively remember her former friend and one of the only 8th star mage of the Empire.

Melissa Yorl.

She was born into a family of mages just like Adrianna was. The two met each other when they were in their first year of the academy. The two would always compete for fun in academics and magic.

Sometimes it would be Adrianna that becomes the top achiever and other times it would be Melissa. It was friendly competition at first but gradually turned into jealousy and contempt.

Why is she so much stronger than me!?

How come she was able to become an elite of the Empire while I became a mere professor!?

I hate her! Hate! Hate!

Why does she keep growing while my growth stopped a long time ago!?

Why!!!!???

Adrianna remembered her former self. That weak girl who couldn't even handle the rejection letter from the Magic Tower of the empire that stated that she was not good enough.

She almost committed suicide because of how devastated her young self was.

Yes, she was indeed selfish by wanting to help Lauran grow stronger than her former friend. If she couldn't surpass Melissa then she would make it possible for someone else to do it.

'How would it feel to finally meet your match, Melissa?'

Adrianna stopped herself from smiling and began explaining.

"While I understand your confusion, I can assure that I won't expect you to do too much. You will be my assistant and help me during class sessions while I teach you in magic in return. I will only increase your workload as you grow in experience. This is a full scholarship, of course. I will also pay you for your hard work since being an assistant is no easy task."

"I-Is this really okay? To pick me? I'm not even that smart…"

"Lauran, a magic caster does not need the brain of a genius to attain greatness. All they need is their passion and talent for magic. Even an uneducated person can rise above the educated if they just believe they can do it."

She had seen many talented individuals born from commoner households. There were actually many students like that in her class. Adrianna saw them all as equal in her eyes since she knew the struggles of those wanting to succeed but couldn't.

Lauran, however, was a different case.

"Have you had this power for a long time now?"

"No… I was able to cast magic out of nowhere this one time without an incantation."

Adrianna's eyes widened into saucers.

'Amazing!'

"Are you able to use all magic without invoking a chant?"

Lauran nodded.

Adrianna was speechless.

It took years of training for even the elite to shorten their chants without decreasing the efficiency of a spell let alone casting magic chantless. There were probably only a few besides Adrianna who could use magic like that.

Only they were known as the elite. But that was something they worked hard for which was completely different from Lauran who could do it like it was second nature.

"I want you to do something for me," Adrianna slid over a magic sheet towards Lauran. On it were three magic circles drawn over each other in different colors, "I want you to try separate these three magic spells and cast them simultaneously."

"Is this a test…?"

"No. I will accept you as my assistant even if you fail to disentangle these magic circles. This task will convey how far your abilities have come. We can always try next time if you fail today."

"Ah… Okay…" Lauran put her hands above the magic sheet and took a deep breath.

'It seems she still needs to focus to bring her mana out of her body. A flaw from being born this talented perhaps? Well, she can't be perfect. I'll just teach her how to subconsciously use mana.'

When Lauran breathed out, a blue essence drifted out of her hands onto the magic sheet. The three magic circles began glowing and vibrating as they were forcibly pulled apart.

'I personally made this test for my final year students in their final exams. Surely an uneducated mage shouldn't be able to—'

"I did it!"

"….."

Adrianna's mouth opened in disbelief when she saw Lauran pull apart the magic circles and cast the three spells. The spells were water, fire and wind.

She managed to do all that in under ten seconds.

"H-How did I do?"

Lauran looked at Adrianna with an anxious expression. The spells faded and the magic sheet burned away after Lauran restricted the mana flow.

"…You pass with flying colors." Adrianna didn't know if she felt amazed or frightened by what she just saw.

A wide smile bloomed on Lauran's face as she cheered, "I did it!"

"Are you willing to continue being Luke's personal maid and an assistant of a professor?"

Even Adrianna thought that having two high-paying jobs was difficult. However, Lauran nodded her head with enthusiasm.

"I want to do it!"

"Wonderful. Have you ever had any form of magic education before?"

"No. I'm self-taught in the magic arts."

"I see… What rank magic are you capable of?"

"Um, Teleportation is my highest form of magic at the moment so…" Lauran frowned, "I-I'm not sure actually…"

"Teleportation magic is of the 5th rank. I now have a rough idea of how high your magic potential is."

"What form of magic can lady Adrianna use?" Lauran asked curiously.

"I can use magic of the 10th rank."

Lauran's mouth gaped, "Lady Adrianna is a-amazing…"

'I don't feel happy even if you compliment me like that.'

"Though I am only capable of two spells of that tier at the moment. I am in the process of learning a third."

Adrianna could use 10th rank magic such as [Meteor Shower] and [Magic Laser]. The former was an AOE spell that could devastate an entire city district while the latter was a single target spell. Though Meteor Shower could destroy at a wider range, a Magic Laser spell was much more powerful because it focused all its attack on a single target.

"Is it hard to learn magic of that rank?"

"Incredibly hard. I was barely able to learn five spells of the 9th rank. Things got even harder when I began studying 10th rank spells. My magic professor told our class that the more you develop you rank of magic, the fewer variety you are able to handle. It just got harder and harder for me to even cope with trying to learn magic. I have been struggling to learn this one spell of the 10th rank for three years now."

Magic was not something that anyone could use. You need high cognitive abilities to be able to understand the formulas. Learning and understanding a spell was much different than trying to remember an equation, for example.

Magic itself was a concept with lots of possibilities. If humans could make this many spells then the amount of spells out there in the world was unimaginable.

In order to use or learn about these spells, one must first know how magic works in the first place.

It was common sense for scholars and Tower Wizards around the world.

But Lauran broke that common sense.

"It's that difficult…?"

"Incredibly difficult. But I know that things won't be the same for you since your potential is far above mine," Adrianna took out a scroll that had the Imperial Academy's insignia on it, "This is an enrollment document for students at the academy. Specifically, a sponsor document for those willing to sponsor students. I had two at first just in case someone else caught my eye."

"Really? Did lady Adrianna use the first one already?"

"Yes. Though I haven't got a reply from that person if she'll enroll or not. Such a dilemma. But what can I do?" Adrianna gave a pen to Lauran, "Sign your name here."

Lauran smiled and took the pen, however, her smile froze a moment later.

"…If I take this job then I won't have a lot of time to be with my family."

"Do not worry about your family. I will make sure they are protected and that you get longer vacation days than the usual assistant."

Lauran seemed suspicious about why Adrianna, the first lady of the duke would go so far for her.

"Are you doubting me, Lauran? Do you not trust me?"

"…I am just careful because a lot of things are going too smoothly, "Lauran finally signed the document. It was swallowed up by flames and then a small insignia plate appeared on the table in its place.

"What's this?"

"That is your data badge. It is used to identify students of the academy. Wear this at all costs or you won't be allowed inside my office or any of the facilities."

Lauran took the small badge and put it on her chest. It looked ridiculous with her maid uniform.

"I will be sure to have an academy uniform delivered to your room tomorrow. For now, I want you to head back."

"O-Okay," Lauran stood up and bowed, "Thank you for giving me this wonderful opportunity, lady Adrianna. I could never have imagined that I would be able to join such a prestigious academy."

Adrianna stood up and walked over to Lauran.

"Call me 'Professor' when we're at the academy. Now go back to Luke's room because your duties as his maid starts from today."

"Understood!" Lauran nodded deeply and affirmed that she understood.

She left the office soon after and only Adrianna remained.

'I can't wait to see what kind of person she will in the future….'

◇◇◇

Sebastian was walking down the hallway of the castle. His destination was the room of the heir. In his hands was a tray that contained Luke's lunch. Since Luke didn't come down to the dining room, he decided to take the food up instead.

Sebastian had heard a lot of interesting things from the ones who managed to survive the assault on the castle. There were a lot of them who admired Luke's courage for standing up to the enemies.

Of course, there were some who were angered by Luke who would drag them into a battle they didn't want to be involved with. Sebastian didn't think it was necessary to scold them for their behavior so he just left them to voice their complaints.

Among the things he heard, there was something interesting that one of his workers told him.

The young master's sword was glowing in a golden light. I'm not sure but I think it might've been that power he used to beat lord Arnold.

'Indeed. He managed to attain a certain level of that power. I am quite curious how strong he is now. Well, I can find that out once our next session begins.'

Sebastian knocked on the door to Luke's room. He could hear voices inside.

'Is that Flora? Perhaps she also came here to talk about his power.'

His question was confirmed when the door opened.

"Huh? It's just you?" Flora spoke as brashly as usual.

"I have brought the young master's lunch. I assume he is awake?"

"I... am awake, Sebas…"

Sebastian looked further into the room and could see Luke sitting on his bed. He looked completely miserable.

Flora stepped out of the way so Sebastian could come inside.

"You hadn't left your room so I decided to bring lunch," Sebastian put down the tray on Luke's bedside table, "I heard from the others that you used some mysterious power to injure the leader of the intruders."

"…."

"Am I wrong?"

"No…" Luke stood up and reached for something under his bed, "This is…"

Sebastian's eyes widened when he saw the shining blade of the sword that Luke got from the auction. It was the same color as the power known as golden aura, aura filled with divinity.

"I never would've expected a piece of junk to be this amazing of an artifact," Flora said in regret, "It somehow ended up in this kid's hands and look what happened. He managed to control a certain portion of that power."

"I wouldn't say he is able to control it… It is more like he is able to access the power." Sebastian took the sword and inspected it.

He felt a surge of power inside the sword's blade. 'Does this sword absorb his golden aura?'

If so then this sword was the perfect medium for helping him control his power. Perhaps it sucked out the power that laid dormant in his body and thus turned that power into energy.

"Is something wrong?" Luke sat up straight.

Sebastian shook his head and put the sword back onto the table, "What did you feel in the moment you received this power?"

Luke didn't seem to understand how to put it into words. He thought for a moment and answered:

"It was… like a dam of power rushing into my body. That moment when I stabbed the man with the sword was the moment when I felt as if I could perceive everything around me without even turning my head. I imagined multiple ways to cut him down but never got a chance to…"

Sebastian closed his eyes.

'He was touched by the hands of the gods.'

That same phrase was mentioned in the first ever volume telling the story about the Sanctity Knight, Promethius.

The boy, his body stained with the blood of his family, was touched by the hands of gods as he felt a surge of power rush into him.

There was no doubt about it.

Luke was destined to save this world from destruction.

Sebastian could see Flora look at him. It seemed that she too thought the same thing as he did.

"I don't really feel any different from before I had this much power…" Luke looked at his hands which he opened and closed to familiarize himself.

"Young master, you should know what this power means, right?" Flora spoke this time, "Your normal life just got harder."

"Normal life, huh…" Luke laughed bitterly, "Nothing seems the same ever since I became the heir. How did big brother Arnold survive for so many years…"

"The life of a heir was never peaceful to begin with. They must protect themselves from the hungry predators threatening to gobble them up. Young master Arnold nearly died four times ever since he was born. My guess as to why he accepted his father's decision was that he was mentally unable to handle the pressure."

'Which would explain his childish antics and rude behavior all these years.'

That was Sebastian own guess. Perhaps Arnold did all those things in order to cope with everything that rested on his shoulders. Of course, there were no excuses to hurting others.

'But these rumors about him murdering others and outright impregnating women are just ridiculous.' Sebastian thought so because he had never seen any of the victims or their families come forward. It was basically hearsay.

Arnold's name was hated just because of these kinds of rumors. At one point he stopped caring and became what everyone imagined he was.

A tyrant.

"…." Luke silently looked up at the portrait of Arnold that was still hanging on the wall.

"We should probably get rid of that." Sebastian went towards it.

"No," Luke firmly denied, "Keep it here."

"…Very well." Sebastian couldn't understand why he should leave it here but he agreed nonetheless.

"Finish your lunch and get dressed. We will be going on a journey to focus on your training. You only have less than two months left until you attend the Imperial Academy," said Flora.

"Right..." Luke seemed to recall something as he asked: "Where is Her Highness? Her airship is still here but I haven't seen her since yesterday..."

"We have not seen her this morning either. But I heard from one of the knights that she left the castle grounds," Sebastian answered, "Most likely to have some space to clear her head. She might be back later today. But why do you ask? Is something the matter?"

"No..It's…nothing… By the way, where are we going?"

Sebastian smiled as he responded, "The destination does not matter because we will help you understand and control this power."