Chapter 46: Chapter 46: Incredible talent
Dialogue "sample"
Thoughts 'Sample'
Techniques [sample]
Author notes -sample-
Chapter 46
Incredible talent
"Oh?" The guy in the middle gave her a mocking smile. "And what are you going to do?"
"You think you can beat three second-year students? Even if you are from the elite class, don't get too arrogant!" Another one of the boys said.
They saw Astoria take something from one of her pockets and they all got on guard. They took their wands into their hands and pointed them at the girl.
"Expand!" She exclaimed. The tiny object on her hand grew until it became a large staff.
"How can a commoner have something like that?!" One of the guys looked at the expensive artifact with shock.
"She probably stole it from some noble," The second boy said.
"Nevermind that now!. Let's teach her a lesson! We can take that staff afterward as compensation." The leader said with eyes full of greed.
The trio called their spells. Two of them cast balls of fire and the third one conjured a projectile made of rock.
Astoria did not call the name of any spell. She created a sphere of water in front of her and then made it spin around at great speed while expanding, creating a thin circle that acted as a shield against the attacks.
The trio of boys was surprised that she was able to stop their attacks, but the most surprised one was Siegfried who had been observing her moves in detail.
'That girl is quite something…I wonder what her real identity is.' He thought.
To understand the difficulty of what she had done, one first needs to understand why Magus apprentices only use rank zero spells and how those spells work.
Apprentices who had just started their journey will have almost no mana reserves inside their bodies. Those need to be built over time by using a meditation(cultivation) technique. Then they need to develop their mana veins and finally, create their solid mana core.
Before one reaches this level, is very difficult to draw on your own mana in order to cast spells.
Rank zero spells are different than the rest because they are cast by relying on the ambient mana that exists in the air. This makes the spells very limited in use and very weak.
Trying to increase the power input or change the behavior of a rank zero spell is something that even an Official Magus would have trouble doing, so no one really goes through the trouble of learning it.
By the time the average Apprentice could learn to manipulate, bend, and power up those types of spells, that Apprentice should have already broken through the ranks of a Magus and would be able to cast much more powerful magic instead.
But Astoria had done just that. She had modified a rank zero 'water ball' spell to create that shield, and she has done it before even reaching the core formation stage.
"If those three understood the difficulty of what she has just done. They would be running already" commented Siegfried.
"Uh? what do you mean?" Asked Edward in confusion. He knew that she has done something unusual with her spell, but didn't understand what it was.
The trio of boys started shouting again.
"Fire again!" The one who was the leader ordered.
Before they could begin to form their next wave of spells, Astoria pointed her staff forward and conjured a very strong gust of wind that pushed the boys back until they collided with a stone wall that belonged to another shop.
The boys grunted in pain as they reached the hard floor of the street.
"What's going on here!" A strong male voice called.
The small crowd of people who were watching the confrontation had to make way for the group of guards.
"Sir!, those three look like students from the Magus academy." One of the guards said.
"By the color of their robes, they are probably nobles." Another guard said.
The leader of the five guards turned to Astoria. "Is this your doing? What is your name?."
"Astoria…" She answered with a bit of hesitation.
The guard's eyes opened in realization.
"No last name...are you a commoner?" The leader asked. His face filled with anger as he saw Astoria nodding.
"And you dare to only break the capital law of no-fighting on the streets but also to attack some nobles! Outrageous!"
"Sir, she is also carrying something suspicious! That staff looks very refined and expensive. Not something that a commoner could afford. That's for sure." A guard pointed out.
"And a thief too!" The leader shouted. "I will have you arr-" The leader was interrupted.
"I am no thief! And they are the ones who started it!" Astoria was losing her calm persona.
"You dare lie to my face! There is no way you could have something like that staff. I will have you arr-" The leader was interrupted once more.
"Actually. I am the one to gave her that staff. I happen to collect them and let her borrow one." Edward came walking casually and got between Astoria and the guard.
"And who are you?!" The guard leader shouted.
"Oh!...sir…wait!" One of the other guard's face went pale when he saw Edward and tried to gain the attention of his leader but the man was too angry to listen.
Edward smiled mischievously. "Why…I am wounded. I and my family have lived here in the Capital for soo many generations and not even the Captain of the guards recognizes little me…" With a dramatic gesture, Edward brought a hand to his forehead while holding a plaque with the symbol of the Aston family. This was something only given to members of the family.
The face of the guard Captain went completely pale and started to stammer.
"M-My L-Lord!." The Captain got to one knee and the other guards soon follow. "My apologies, My Lord. This little servant could not recognize a member of the prestigious Aston family." The Captain said in a panic.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone