Chapter 20: Trying to Kill Your Teacher in the First Lesson?

Finn’s backyard.

The usually quiet backyard was broken by the sound of swords swinging.

Two light swords cut through the usually silent garden, soaring freely in the sky.

“Ha—”

In the corner of the backyard, Kelly, who had been lounging on a deck chair, stood up leisurely and stretched.

Worried that magic practice would damage Finn’s property, and also to help Elena better adapt to controlling elemental force, Kelly—relying on her basic qualities as an excellent magic teacher and the far-sighted vision of a Great Magician—specially made the very bold decision to “bring Elena outside to practice”…

Well, actually, Kelly just got tired of lecturing and wanted Elena to practice on her own for a while, while she changed the scenery to sunbathe and slack off…

Smelling the unique freshness of soil and the fragrance of flowers in the backyard lawn, Kelly felt nothing but comfort.

‘A life like this—not stuck in experiments, just teaching a disciple… it’s not bad.’

Kelly glanced at Elena in the distance.

The girl stood straight in the center of the lawn, only her brown cloak trembling slightly in the wind.

Notably, her cross-shaped pupils beneath her silver hair were shimmering with light, and her outstretched hands were simultaneously emitting a strange golden glow, gently tracing through the air—she was driving her elemental force, focusing all her spirit on following the trajectories of the two flying swords.

Elena’s progress far exceeded Kelly’s expectations.

She had originally thought this child would get stuck on changing the shape of elements for a long time before figuring out the trick—most apprentices got stuck here…

But Elena could now even use her spirit to control them and make them obey her.

The soaring flying swords spiraled upward again, then slowly descended, landing in the girl’s hands.

‘Really unexpected… I remember when I learned similar puppetry magic… it took me a whole day…’

Kelly was about to sigh at the trend of the new generation surpassing the old, feeling a little bitter inside.

But on second thought, she realized something was wrong—the faster her disciple learned, the less time she’d have to answer her questions, right?

The less time she spent answering questions, the more time she could slack off, right?

This was a good thing!

‘And… this child is much better than those mischievous, troublesome brats at the Magic Association, isn’t she?’

At least, Kelly convinced herself.

She adjusted her magic hat with satisfaction, lifted her calves, and prepared to adjust to a more comfortable position to keep lying back.

“Be… be careful! Master!”

A girl’s cry came from behind.

The battle instincts of a Great Magician sent Kelly a warning.

She instinctively ducked—a flying sword shot past her head, grazing the leather of her magic hat.

A “#” mark appeared on the purple-haired loli’s forehead.

“Hey! You ungrateful disciple, you have no respect for your elders. I admit your magical talent is really good, but that doesn’t mean you try to kill your teacher in the first lesson—”

Kelly touched the tip of her hat with a pained expression, her face full of protest.

“So… sorry… Master! But… I… I can’t control them anymore!”

Elena was struggling and straining to regain control, completely lacking the composure she had shown when controlling swords from afar just moments ago.

Even a blind person could see that the silver-haired girl was in a bad state—she was gasping for breath, her face flushed, and the light radiating from her body as she controlled the Light Element was terrifyingly active.

‘A Magic Surge? That shouldn’t be… The mana concentration in the Holy Capital should be low… and the mana fluctuations should be stable…’

The two flying swords were still dangerously circling around the girl, still closing in with no sign of stopping.

‘Fine… I’ll just give this genius a little bonus problem to solve…’

“Elena! It’s a ‘Magic Surge’!”

Kelly’s face took on a serious and earnest expression, completely different from her earlier laziness.

“The Mana Elements are ‘angry’—try to soothe them!”

The girl in the center nodded and immediately followed the instructions.

However, the rampaging flying swords wouldn’t do her any favors.

One of them immediately shot toward her.

“Tch.”

Elena had no choice but to dodge slightly.

Swiish—

The light sword grazed past her shoulder, slicing off a strand of silver hair from her ends and cutting through the fabric of her shirt, revealing a bit of her fair skin.

Making the flying swords stop at this point was no less difficult than fighting multiple troublesome enemies…

No, actually, it was even harder.

Elena had to focus her spirit while dodging the flying swords’ attacks.

She was clearly running out of time.

The two swords seemed to have gained intelligence, forcing and squeezing her space—there were fewer and fewer places she could dodge to.

Whoosh—

One sword came straight at her face.

She had no choice but to gamble everything…

Facing the high-speed oncoming light, Elena closed her eyes tight.

The sword was about to reach the tip of her forehead.

Elena didn’t waver.

She was still trying to seize the initiative.

It worked.

Its speed finally slowed down—only half a foot away from her—before it fell to the lawn with a clatter.

But the other sword made a wide arc in the air and stabbed toward her back from a high angle.

‘Damn it…’

Elena gritted her teeth.

She knew she was in trouble.

But then Kelly suddenly released some kind of magic, and a bottomless space instantly formed behind Elena—like a black hole—that “swallowed” the entire sword.

“Phew—”

The crisis was finally resolved. The girl let out a long sigh.

“Thank you, Master—”

“Elena, what did you just do? Creatures that obey you shouldn’t go berserk for no reason…”

Kelly’s tone was not as close as usual; it carried a hint of a teacher’s authority and interrogation.

“So… sorry… Master…”

“I thought since I had aptitude for multiple elements, I’d try summoning a sword made of the Fire Element…”

“But the moment my body started resonating with the Fire Element in the air… these two swords immediately broke free from my control…”

The girl hung her head in frustration, waiting for Kelly’s punishment.

Kelly was silent for a long while.

“Never mind. This isn’t your fault…”

“Eh… Wh… why?”

“I didn’t explain this to you in advance… You can’t release magic of two different elements at the same time. Resonance is essentially activating the dormant Mana Elements in the air… but activated Mana Elements will ‘react’ with each other, which throws off the caster’s control.”

“So after releasing one element, you need to ‘cleanse’ the Light Element from your Magic Circuit before you can resonate with the Fire Element next…”

The girl nodded thoughtfully.

“Well, at least under your protection, no one got hurt…”

Elena comforted herself.

“Really?”

The purple-haired loli made a doubtful inquiry.

“?”

“The cut on your shoulder just now… it’s getting bigger now—”

Kelly’s murmur was like that of a little devil.

Elena looked down.

The tear on her right side had completely ripped open her right shoulder.

Through the gap, one could vaguely see the fair skin of the girl’s chest underneath…

“Ah!!!—”

The girl’s panicked cries echoed through the backyard.