Chapter 10: Young Scholar
Merik's POV
I am a new hire to the Amor estate, the head of the estate, Keir Amor, personally interviewed me. I was to double as a bodyguard and a tutor for one of his two daughters, Ari or Lin. As excited as I was, I was nervous. I have heard rumors floating around the household of the terrors these two children commit. Bullying, beating, firing innocent servant. And the murder of many more slaves.
I swear, this mansion is like a never-ending, always changing maze. Seeing a maid, I quickly wave her over. "Pardon me, but I was wondering if you could point me towards the library. I'm the new tutor." I shyly rub at the back of my neck.
"Oh, of course! When I was new here these hallways seemed to be like a maze." She quickly explained how to get there.
"Thank you so much! And I swear, these halls shift around every night."
"Haha, it does seem like that. I truly hope you last longer that the other tutors thought, you're not stuck up like most other scholars."
"Thanks!" I start to walk away, pondering her words. Wait she said 'last longer than the others'. I quickly turn around, only to find an empty hallway. My informant had left.
I finally reach my destination after a little while of walk-in up and down these winding hallways. The library. Quite a beautiful place, truly underrated. The stained glass doors and countless windows cause the place to look bright and happy. Yet the layer of dust gives it an underlying lonely feel.
I walk in and sit at the least dust-covered table there is.
"Hello there, are you Sir Merik? The new tutor?"
I look down to see a little girl, no older than 3. "Why, yes. Yes, I am he. Why do you need me?"
"You are to be my new tutor." Wait. I thought I was to teach Ari or Lin, "I am the third youngest missus of Lord Amor."
This little girl… her aura is of a soldier that has gone through many perilous battles. An aura of a ruler; yet, it is known to many that the loneliest position of all is the ruler.
"Alright young miss, My name is Merik, a retired knight of the Light Brigade and a scholar of Prag Academy." Yes, I graduated the nearly-impossible school of Praga as a double major. I truly am quite proud of this accomplishment. I can see the young miss perk up at the mention of Prag academy.
"Prag academy? As in the Prag Mage Academy of Praga?"
"No, no, no. You see, I may have an attribute to earth yet my strength is not nearly enough to go through the mage academy. Instead, I used my mana to become a vitrifier. As low leveled as it is, the skill has continued to save my and other lives countless times." Oops. I talked to her as if she were older than she is, she probably doesn't know any of the words meant. I suppose this is a good learning opportunity for both of us.
Instead of tilting her head in confusion, she has an emotionless mask plastered on her face as she nods. "What is a vitrifier? I have read multiple books, yet the definition changes in each. Some say they use aura, others say they use mana."
"Vitrifiers and conjurers are similar in the way that they both use mana. Both use this mana in different ways, though." I glance down at her to see her scribbling away in her notebook, as if she were taking notes. But how could a girl, aged less than three, be taking notes when she can't even write. I glance over her shoulder to see-- to see her writing fully complete and complex sentences.
She looks up at me, expecting me to continue. "Aura is not a synonym to mana, in the olden books it was used as such. Mana is the power the element itself holds whilst aura, we believe it to be the way one expresses their power. If a rank 3 conjurer were to use his aura on me, a rank 5 vitrifier, I would be forced to submit to the conjurer's will." The still nameless girl continues to write tirelessly in that small, leatherbound notebook of hers.
I slap my forehead, "Oh, silly me. I forgot to answer your question. There are two ways in which one can use mana, a vitrifier and a conjurer. A vitrifier uses their mana to strengthen their body and at higher levels they may expel thus mana through their body. One example would be a rank 2 fire vitrifier expelling fire out of his hands. A conjurer uses chant to control the mana around them and shape it. A conjurer is able to use elements outside of their affinity, except that it costs more energy and a longer chant."
I still find myself being amazed at her genius. Every time I bring up a new topic, one which an adult may not yet be able to comprehend, I find that this young miss always has some interesting take on it. This small, lonely, forgotten girl is one of the strongest people I have met. If in the future I have the opportunity, I wish to become her loyal knight.
The topic of geography came up and I found out that she is quite clueless about it. "We are currently residing in Oegir continent on a chain of floating islands called Praga. These islands are held up by many artificial gravity mage machines. There is the dwarven country, Gesmirth, to our east. This country is full of the dwarves who all have the affinity to earth and metal. They also are famous for their weapon making abilities. To our west are the elves. Not much is known about this race as they isolate themselves. We know for a fact that they have affinities to water and plants but that is the limit of our knowledge."
She looks down at the map and I see a masterful replica drawing in her notebook.
"What is to the north of us?" She asks in a childish tone, one unbefitting of her knowledge.
"To the north are the Draconii Mountain, the most dangerous place of Oegir. There have been countless attempts to explore these mountains by many high leveled explorers. None have returned alive."
"It's more dangerous than the Neverending Sea of Monsters?"
"Much more. At least there, we know where our enemies are. In the mountains monsters attack from below ground, from the sky, wherever you could think. It is believed that there are White leveled mana beasts up there, like dragons and such."
Pausing, she looks up at me in confusion. I can barely hold back my squeal, with her baby face, snow white hair, and ice cold eyes. If you ignore the lack of emotion in her eyes, she is the cutest thing one would ever see. "White level? Mana beast?"
I run a hand through my hair, "His do I explain this… you know how us humans are able to cultivate mana? In mana rich areas, there are beasts that are able to do this subconsciously and some elements may merge with their bodies, thus creating a mana beast. Not all beasts have merged with their mana but can still cultivate." I pause for a but as to let her scribble away all that information in her tiny little notebook. "The levels are like this; red--orange--yellow--green--aqua--blue--violet--black--silver--white. Each level has seven layers from five to one and the last level is peak. This ranking system also goes for adventurers, a mage's mana core, and aura."
"Sir Merik? May I ask what level you have reached?" Her childish voice questions.
"Hmm? Oh, I've reached third layer green. My cultivation is quite average for my age but one of my former classmates has just broken through to blue rank!" Silence falls over the study room. "Do you mind if I ask you a question Ms. Amor?"
"It depends on the question, but I will try my best to answer."
I attempt to hold in my laughter at her babyish face that is currently twisted into a dead serious face. "What is in that notebook you carry around with you everywhere?"
"Oh," She glances down longingly at the worn leather-bound notebook, "It was the gift my mother had given me last I saw her, that was years ago. I use it to write down my notes from your class and all my ideas."
"Haha, you truly are the most studious person I know. But what type of ideas do you write in there?" I wasn't lying about the studious part, this student of mine is always reading or writing in her little notebook.
She quickly flips through her notes to a drawing. I look closer and see countless gears and other little mechanisms. "You invented this?" Holy crap, I knew my doll-like student was a genius, but this is just too much! She nods and quickly flips to more inventions, many even more complex than the one I had just inspected.
"What do they do?" Most of our lessons end up like this, where the little miss ends up teaching me something new about the subject I was supposed to teach her. I can never and will never be able to guess what's on her mind.
"The one I showed you is an engine that can power small machines, but I do have another similar one that can power larger devices." I quickly deny her offer, she then turns to a page and frowns at it.
"What does this one do?" I spot an orb like object with countless little gears, and other machinery I can't recognize.
The little girl quickly puts an even more serious expression on, a borderline solemn one. "Well, you see it isn't done yet…"
I quickly notice her reluctance to answer and reassure her, "No, no, no. You don't have to show me anything you don't want to. I should respect your privacy."
***Time skip***
"What about your sister?" I look down at my poor student. She has always been strong, and the sight of her crying just breaks my heart. I've only known her for a few months now but I treat her as if she were my sister by blood.
"She- she's forcing me to do her homework… and she always steals my food…" This poor girl, always forgotten and mistreated by her family. In fact, I've found that most of the people here don't know of her existence. I just can't seem to figure out why her presence has been hidden…
I walk over to the desk carrying the little miss and glance at the tear-stained sheet on her desk. "Hmmm. You're right, this is most definitely not the homework I assigned you last night. And Ari's name is signed at the top even though it's written in your handwriting." The tiny girl snuggles deeper into my chest, "But what you said about her stealing your food…" Sighing I sit down on her bed. She truly is too thin and small for her age, in stark contrast to her pudgy sister Ari.
"The theft is much harder to prove, but I believe in you." These words must have triggered something because the poor girl starts crying even more, drenching my clothes. After a few minutes, the sobbing subsides and I hear her even breathing. She's asleep.
I slowly set her down and tuck her in. She actually looks like a child.
Time to get to work. I sit at her desk and start brainstorming how to bring this up to her father, Sir Keir Amor. Afterall, I have to report to him tomorrow.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Hawkeye_119
Hawkeye_119 Aish!! I am so sorry for the long wait ;( I've had the longest writer's block and just couldn't find inspiration, but i will try to still write. I am sooooo sorry !!!!!
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