After the dinner party, for several days, Ize’s life finally returned to the leisure he had hoped for.
He put most of his energy into the renovation of the old church located at the edge of Starry Academy.
Sarah and Emma also came to help often.
Sarah seemed to have transformed her guilt toward the innocent victims of the Raymond territory into concrete actions for the proper resettlement of these surviving children. She was exceptionally attentive to the renovation matters, personally overseeing everything from the selection of materials to the supervision of the construction schedule.
With these two capable and enthusiastic upperclassmen taking charge, Ize was happy to be idle. Most of the time, he was only responsible for some minor tasks or quietly watching the progress of the project from the side, enjoying this rare, unnoticed peace.
In just one week, the church, which was originally dilapidated and on the verge of demolition, took on a brand-new look.
On the first day the church was officially completed, Link couldn’t wait to find Ize, who was checking the inventory list in the backyard.
The little girl looked up, her clear big eyes full of expectant light, and her small hand gently tugged at the corner of Ize’s clothes: “Brother Ize, the church is all fixed! When will you start teaching me magic?”
Looking at Link’s eyes full of thirst for knowledge, Ize also felt it was time.
He put down the list in his hand and took Link to a secluded open space behind the church, far from the road and not easily disturbed.
Following the most basic initiation method of Starry Academy, he patiently guided Link: “Link, the first step in learning magic is to calm your mind and feel the elemental energy flowing in the air with your heart…”
“…Try to clear your thoughts, reach out your hand, and use your will to guide them, letting them gather in your palm.”
Recollecting the difficulties he faced when he first started, he was prepared to use his own experience of “taking three days to barely perceive the elements” to encourage Link and tell her there was no need to rush—
“Brother Ize, is it like this?”
In the next moment, Ize’s words of encouragement stopped abruptly, stuck in his throat.
Above the small hand Link slowly stretched out, a cluster of light elements condensed steadily in her palm.
Ize: “…”
He looked at the ball of light composed purely of light elements, then looked at Link’s slightly uncertain yet incredibly relaxed little face, and his heart suffered an unprecedented critical hit.
Was this the horror of having 90% light element affinity?
Back then, he had spent three days and gone through countless failures before barely capturing a trace of elemental fluctuation, but Link… from the start of the attempt to successful condensation, it probably didn’t even take a minute!
Was this the desperate chasm between a genius and an ordinary person?
He quickly adjusted his expression, suppressed the waves in his heart, and reached out to gently touch the top of Link’s soft hair, keeping his tone as calm as possible: “Ahem… Very well done, Link.”
Feeling the warm touch from the top of her head, Link squinted her eyes comfortably, like a kitten being stroked.
Being patted on the head feels so good…
Brother Ize’s palm is so warm…
“Since you can already perceive and condense elemental power, then today we will start learning the first real magic.”
Ize withdrew his hand, his expression becoming serious.
His figure moved slightly, disappearing from the spot. A few seconds later, he appeared again instantly, carefully holding a shivering white mouse with a clear wound on its abdomen. It looked like it had just been attacked by some bird of prey.
“What I’m going to teach you next is a Tier 1 light-type magic—[Healing].” Ize explained, “It is one of the most basic but also the most important spells for a light-type mage.”
Link’s eyes lit up, and she immediately said: “I know this! I saw Sister Emma use this magic to treat the injured brothers and sisters before!”
“That’s right, that’s the one.” Ize nodded. He motioned for Link to watch closely, then extended his finger toward the wound on the mouse’s abdomen and began to guide his mana.
A soft white light lit up from his fingertips, enveloping the mouse’s wound.
The blood at the wound stopped oozing, and the flesh began to heal slowly at a speed visible to the naked eye…
Link watched intently, her small face full of wonder: “So amazing!”
However, just as her praise fell, the light on Ize’s fingertips dimmed.
He discovered with some embarrassment that the wound… had only healed by about half, leaving a clear shallow scar.
Link tilted her head in confusion and asked with concern: “Brother Ize, is your [Healing] finished? Is it because this mouse is too badly injured that it can’t be cured all at once?”
Ize’s old face turned red for once. He coughed dryly and rubbed his nose awkwardly: “No… It’s just that your Brother Ize’s [Healing] effect… well, it’s probably about this level.” As he spoke, he silently mobilized his mana and cast [Healing] on the mouse again.
As the second light fell, the wound on the mouse’s abdomen finally healed completely, and even its fur returned to its original state.
The mouse, which had finally been cured after being “tossed around” twice by Ize, seemed to have some human-like understanding. It let out two “squeaks,” and instead of running away immediately, it affectionately rubbed its small head against Ize’s shoe to express its gratitude.
However, it was still too early for the mouse to be affectionate.
Ize turned to Link and asked: “When I cast [Healing] just now, did you see the trajectory of the magic and feel the way the elements condensed clearly?”
Link nodded her small head vigorously, full of confidence: “I understand, Brother Ize!”
“Good.”
Ize pointed to the mouse at his feet.
“Then, use it to practice now. Remember, concentrate, guide the light elements, and imagine the scene of healing and restoration.”
After saying that, his fingertips moved slightly, and an extremely fine wind blade sliced through the air, accurately leaving a wound of moderate depth on the mouse’s back.
The mouse cried out in pain, “squeaking” again. Its gaze toward Ize instantly changed from affectionate to terrified, and it shrank back, trying to hide.
Ize ignored the mouse’s accusing eyes and gestured to Link: “Begin.”
He was just about to find a place to lie down and leisurely guide and correct Link’s mistakes in a while.
However—the moment his voice fell, a burst of bright white light, far purer, denser, and even carrying a hint of sacredness compared to what he had cast, suddenly erupted from Link’s petite body!
The white light was like warm flowing water, instantly enveloping the injured mouse on the ground.
In less than half a second, the light dissipated.
The wound on the mouse’s back had vanished without a trace, with not even a mark left behind.
Not only that, it seemed even more energetic than before it was injured. Its originally terrified eyes became docile, and it even took two steps toward Link on its own initiative.
Link dissipated the light in her hand and trotted to Ize. She looked up with her small face, her eyes flashing with the joy of completing the task and the expectation of waiting for praise: “Brother Ize, is it like this? Did I do it right?”
She even subconsciously stretched her small head out a bit, waiting for Ize to pat her head.
Ize stood there, looking at the rejuvenated mouse and then at Link’s “asking for praise” face. He was stunned for several seconds before he came back to his senses.
An indescribable and complex emotion filled his chest.
At this moment, he finally deeply realized what kind of feeling teachers had when they encountered a true genius student.
There was both the immense gratification and sense of achievement of “getting the world’s brightest talents to teach,” and a faint sense of helplessness and loss of “being at one’s wits’ end,” as if there was nothing more he could teach her.
He slowly reached out and gently placed his hand on the top of Link’s head again. His tone carried heartfelt praise and a trace of sighing that he hadn’t even noticed himself:
“Link, you did a great job.”
He paused. Given Link’s terrifying learning speed, he had to adjust his original teaching plan and told the truth:
“At your learning speed, I’m afraid… in just one week, your Brother Ize will have finished teaching all the basic magic. By then, you might need to read books yourself to learn more in-depth knowledge.”
Link’s face, which had been enjoying the stroking, froze slightly when she heard “one week” and “read books yourself.”
She suddenly realized that sometimes being too smart and learning too fast didn’t seem to be an entirely good thing.
Although being patted on the head by Brother Ize was very comfortable…
That would mean the time spent alone with Brother Ize would be reduced…
“Alright,” Ize didn’t notice the little girl’s subtle change of mind. He withdrew his hand and said, “Today, you should practice and consolidate [Healing] well. At this time tomorrow, I will teach you an offensive-type light magic.”
The next day, Ize arrived as promised, intending to teach Link a basic wind-type offensive magic—[Wind Blade].
He originally thought it would be as easy as yesterday.
However, the development of things was beyond his expectation.
No matter how detailed Ize’s explanation of the magic structure of [Wind Blade] was, Link could never get the hang of it.
Her small hands gestured in the air, trying to condense wind elements, but she could only create some weak air currents, unable to maintain even the most basic wind blade shape stably.
Unwilling to believe it, Ize had her try the most basic fireballs, water arrows, earth spikes, and lightning strikes in turn.
The results were largely the same. Although Link could vaguely sense the existence of these elements with her ultra-high elemental perception, condensing and controlling them was exceptionally difficult.
After many failures, Link lowered her head in disappointment, her small hands nervously wringing the corner of her clothes: “Brother Ize, is Link… very stupid? I can’t learn anything…”
Seeing the little girl looking like she was about to cry, Ize squatted down, looked Link in the eye, and reached out to touch her head again, his tone gentle and firm:
“Don’t lose heart, Link. You’re not stupid at all. On the contrary, your talent in light magic is the most powerful your Brother Ize has ever seen! To master [Healing] in one day is already very remarkable! It’s normal to be slower in learning other types of magic. Everyone has their own strengths.”
He thought to himself: ‘Perhaps Link’s talent is entirely concentrated on the light element. This is good. If she learned everything as fast as she learned light magic, wouldn’t her talent be heaven-defying enough to surpass that cheater Leon? If that were the case, I’d really have to re-evaluate her background and potential risks.’
Link raised her head, her eyes still shimmering with some tears, and asked timidly: “Then… Brother Ize, since Link is so stupid and can’t learn other magic, will you… will you still continue to teach Link light magic?”
Looking at her cautious look, Ize couldn’t help but smile and answered affirmatively: “Of course I will. My teaching will end when you can proficiently master Tier 2 magic.”
Link silently noted it down…
As long as she couldn’t proficiently master Tier 2 magic, Brother Ize would continue to teach her.
Then she would be able to see Brother Ize every day…
***
Nighttime, Starry Academy boys’ dormitory area.
Swan dragged his exhausted body, pushed open the door of his room, and slumped heavily onto the bed.
He communicated with the residing soul in his mind:
“Igneel! Did you remember the place wrong, or is there something wrong with your perception? We’ve almost turned the entire Starry Academy upside down! The library, the training ground, abandoned warehouses, even… even the girls’ dormitory area and the perimeter of the bathhouse, I’ve found ways to investigate! Why can’t you still sense the specific location where your remains are sealed?”
Igneel’s voice also carried heavy confusion and puzzlement: “That’s not right. I clearly remember that my remains were sealed in the academy by that guy Jellal.”
Swan was almost at the point of breaking down, his voice carrying a hint of desperate hoarseness: “My grand dragon soul! The academy is only so big, and there are only so many places to hide things. We’ve repeatedly investigated no less than three times during this period! Just give me an exact range! Did your remains run away by themselves?”
Igneel was silent for a moment, and an unpleasant guess surfaced in his mind: “Boy… perhaps our direction is wrong. That cunning fellow Jellal might have… reinforced or… moved the location of the seal at some point we don’t know about.”
“Moved?”
Swan sat up abruptly from the bed, his eyes filled with bloodshot veins. The long-suppressed hatred and anxiety were almost about to burst out.
“Then what should we do?”
“If I really can’t find your remains and can’t resurrect my mother, I’ll have to slaughter those vampire bastards even if it kills me!” Igneel said: “I told you, vampires are not something you humans can contend with.”
Swan said: “Then I’ll help you resurrect, and you help me slaughter those vampire bastards!”
Igneel’s tone also picked up some heat. The pride of the dragon clan made him dissatisfied with being questioned like this:
“Foolish human! You must understand that if your Raymond family ancestors hadn’t conspired with Jellal to plot against me, how could I have ended up like this!”
“I promised to use forbidden power to help you resurrect your mother as an exception after you assist me in my resurrection. That is already the height of benevolence! You still want to drive me to seek revenge for you?”
Swan was intimidated by the dragon soul’s aura. He panted heavily, forcing himself to calm down.
He knew that falling out with Igneel now would bring no benefit.
The room fell into a dead silence. Only Swan’s heavy breathing echoed.
After a long time, Swan seemed to have thought of something. He raised his head, his eyes sharp, and raised a key question they had been ignoring:
“Igneel, don’t you think… the fact that the vampires attacked my Raymond family is very suspicious in itself?”
He walked to the window, looked at the heavy darkness outside, and analyzed calmly:
“Based on geographical location, the territories of the Siss family and the Betty family are closer to the outskirts and more densely populated. If those vampires were just after food, they had absolutely no reason to bypass those two families and go deep into the interior to precisely attack our relatively remote Raymond territory.”
He paused, his voice lowering further, carrying an icy chill: “More importantly, the timing. You, Igneel, the remnant soul that has been silent for a hundred years, had just awakened in my body not long ago when our Raymond family met with disaster. Is this really just a coincidence?”
A gleam flashed in his eyes as he proposed a bold hypothesis: “In other words… the goal of those vampires, from the very beginning, was not ordinary ‘food’.”
“Their true goal… could it be you, Igneel?”
Swan’s words were like a thunderclap, exploding in the depths of Igneel’s soul.
Igneel fell into a long silence, appearing to re-examine the truth behind this sudden disaster.
If Swan’s guess was correct, then behind all this, there was probably an even deeper and more terrifying conspiracy hidden.
“If it really was because of you that my Raymond family was wiped out, don’t you also have an obligation to help me avenge this blood feud?”
Igneel said: “If that’s truly the case, then naturally, I must help you.”
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