Capítulo 192: Mr. Stirling [2]

"W-what... Zero, you? YOU ARE [C]-RANK?!"

'Oh, he figured it out just like that? Impressive. But I guess he is a water mage as well, so it does make sense that he would be able to judge the power of a water spell.'

"Haha, yeah. Because of some circumstances, I have developed a bit faster than most. However, I am still quite lacking, so please don't put too much weight on it."

Sadly, the damage was already done, as my teacher was now staring into the ceiling and mumbling to himself, "A seventeen-year-old freshman is already [C]-rank...? While I just barely managed to get to [A]-rank during my forties...?"

Though I felt he was overreacting a bit, as reaching [A]-rank in itself was an astonishing accomplishment, it also made sense that he thought it to be pretty bizarre. However, we were still in the middle of class, and I still hadn't gotten the pointers I wanted.

"Umm... teacher? Are you okay?"

My words successfully brought him back to reality, to which he quickly collected himself, not wanting to make himself look like a fool. "Cough! Right, I'm fine. Anyway, that's pretty impressive, no, it's straight-up amazing. You might honestly be the first freshmen to ever reach [C]-rank within a month of attending the academy."

"Ah... thank you..."

Even if I made sure to look as humble as possible; internally, I was laughing haughtily, 'Hahaha! Yes, this is Saint Zero, the prodigy!'

"For the spell you just used, [Orb of Water], because of its simplicity there isn't really a lot to say. If I had to nitpick on something it would be that you could probably concentrate the mana even more. Ah, this is only because you are [C]-rank. The power behind the spell is most likely miles ahead of any other freshmen, but as a [C]-rank, you can afford to input more mana when using it."

There was no doubt that Mr. Stirling had some good eyes. I had consciously held back a bit when using my spell, both because it was a habit to save mana but also because I saw no reason to overdo it.

"Let's move on. Please use the other spell you know. Dummy, down. Dummy, [B]-rank, up."

He quickly switched out the broken dummy for a new one, making sure it would now match my rank a bit better. Sadly, there was not much meaning for him to do so. "Umm... The other spell I know isn't an offensive spell, it's for protection."

My teacher's brow raised a bit in response to my words, probably thinking it was unusual for a youth to care much about protection, "Is that so? Then, please do ahead and use it. If it's strong enough, I will throw a couple of [Water Bolts] at it just to measure its potency."

Nodding, I once again moved the mana inside of me, picturing the defensive system I had created.

"[Flowing Aegis]."

My set of four water shields emerged from my body, seemingly happy to get some air as they circulated around my body, eagerly awaiting my commands. "That's an interesting concept! An original spell, huh? You are just full of surprises, aren't you, Zero?"

Although I believed it to mostly be the product of using magic with a different perspective, as I was not a native to this world, I gratefully received the praise, "Thank you, teacher!"

Taking a step forward, he started inspecting my spell, his face making some subtle reactions every now and then, "Hmm... This is no good. Even if the shield seems to hold a lot of strength, because of the rotations it's largely a gamble whether or not you will actually block any attacks."

It seemed like my dear teacher had gotten the wrong impression about what kind of spell this was, or he was just greatly underestimated the connection Zero had to his element. Either way, I grinned inwardly as I was about to once again surprise him.

"Teacher, that's not quite right. That's now how they work."

"Hmm? What do you mean?"

Knowing that show rather than tell was often a lot more effective, I made a suggestion, "I think it's better if I show you. So, if you wouldn't mind, please attack me. And trust me, there will be no danger to my body."

After a few seconds of pondering, he ultimately gave up when he saw the confidence in my eyes, "Haaa... Alright."

Walking back a bit to make some space, four small bullets of water emerged in front of him, carrying a pretty minuscule amount of mana. 'He is really doubting my spell...'

Still, I had no choice but to let him see for himself first before testing out its strength. "Are you ready, Zero?"

"Ready."

Without raising a finger or saying anything, one of the bolts was sent toward me, albeit incredibly slowly. *Bop*

One of my shields reacted to the bolt, though it was already so close that it barely had to move, making me wonder if my teacher even saw what happened. Judging by his wrinkling forehead, he at least appeared to have noticed something.

"I'll go again. Ready?"

"Ready."

This time, he shot out a bolt with a bit more power, probably something that was equal to low [E]-rank in power.

*Bom*

In order to defend against this bolt, one of my shields flew forward a bit, blocked it, and then went back to dancing around my body.

Finally, he understood the situation, at least to an extent "You... you can move each shield independently? Even after the spell has been executed, and four of them at once?"

Why was it only right to an extent? It was because my shields didn't exactly adhere to only my thoughts. They could also be said to be somewhat sentient and reacted to my feelings about danger as well.

But that wasn't something I felt my teacher needed to know. "Yes, so there's no need to worry about them circulating around me. They just do that because it's more comfortable."

Before I knew it, he now raised his arm, the scholar inside of him wanting to test out my shields more.

*Bom! Bom! Bom! Bom!*

A flurry of relatively weak water bolts was sent out towards me, to which my shields kept their loyalty to me by taking turns blocking every single one. Yet, Mr. Stirling didn't seem to want to stop.

*BOM! BOM! BOM! BOM!*

Instead, the power behind his bolts slowly started to increase, and before I knew it, I had to stack my shields on top of each other to defend against him. 'This is dangerous...'

Almost as if in a trance, my instructor kept going, wanting to know exactly how far my shield could go. However, I had no intention of getting hurt for no reason.

"T-Teacher! Isn't this enough?!"

In a matter of a second, he finally woke up, realizing what he was doing, "Oh, I'm sorry Zero. I was... just a bit curious."

Withdrawing my poor little shields, I sighed inwardly while keeping up a front, "It's okay. I think I learned a lot as well."

It was clear that the man was pretty embarrassed, but he somehow kept himself together and continued the lesson, "Well, even with only two spells, you sure have some amazing tools at your disposal. Those shields... they are remarkable."

"Tha..."

"But there's so much untapped potential in them! For example, if you can use them this fluidly, couldn't you insert more mana into one of them instead of being forced to stack multiple together? Or maybe you could even change their forms into something offensive, like a sword or a spear?"

"...nk you?"

Something inside his eyes had changed. From the aloof, calm atmosphere they held, they were now burning with motivation and passion. "Also, we have to check the range in which you still have a strong connection to it, as well as too the decrease in performance in relation to it. Ah, there's also the fact that you might be able..."

Somehow, my teacher just didn't stop talking after he had seen my spell, coming up with all kinds of conjectures and areas where it could be applied. Which was fine, all things considered, but I wasn't here just to get ideas on how to use what I already knew, I was here to learn new things.

"Umm, teacher? Shouldn't I start by practicing some basic spells? You know, I only know two so far."

"Ah, my apologies. Yes, you're right, of course. Then, let's talk a bit about what you want to learn, and what direction you want to take your specialization. I've heard that you are also learning to heal, so it might be good to complement it with long-range spells than can cause damage from a distance."

Shaking my head, this was absolutely not what I wanted to specialize in, "No, I want to specialize in protecting. This is the role I have been given, hence I shall play it to the best of my abilities."

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