As Zeke returned to his ho, eager to share the details of his duel with his ntor Maximilian, he found the house empty. He searched the rooms and called out his ntor's na, but there was no answer. He waited for what felt like an eternity, pacing the floors and reliving the events of the duel in his head, before Maximilian finally returned.
Zeke rushed over to his ntor, ready to pour out the story of his victory, but the old man stopped him with a wave of his hand. "I already know, my boy," he said, his eyes twinkling with a hint of amusent.
Zeke was flabbergasted. "What? How can you know?" he asked.
Maximilian smiled, a hint of a mischievous gleam in his eye. "I may be old, but I can still sneak around when I want to. I disguised myself as a student and snuck into the arena to watch the duel."
Zeke couldn't help but burst out laughing at the image of his rotund teacher trying to act like a teenager. The idea of this proud and dignified old man sneaking around like a youth was too much to take. He laughed until his sides ached, feeling a deep sense of camaraderie with the old man who had beco like a grandfather to him.
Maximilian grinned and patted him on the back. "Don't you dare tell anyone about this, understand? My reputation is at stake."
Zeke nodded, wiping the tears of laughter from his eyes. "I won't breathe a word of it, I promise," he said, still chortling.
Zeke and Maximilian quickly delved into a discussion about the duel. Maximilian praised Zeke for his ability to control the discourse before the fight, turning the crowd against Martin and making him appear as a liar and a fool. However, there was not much to say about the actual fight. Maximilian's expression turned to disappointnt as they discussed Martin's poor display, and how the fight had ended quickly and decisively in Zeke's favor.
"It is likely that the Feuerkranz family did not teach him anything," said Maximilian with a sigh. "They probably only symbolically invited him into the family without providing any of the benefits such as training or resources." He looked at Zeke with a mix of sorrow and admiration. "You might have been a bit harsh with your last attack," he added.
As the reality of Maximilian's words settled in, Zeke began to feel a twinge of guilt for the way he had humiliated and defeated Martin. He knew that he had applied the precise amount of force necessary to incapacitate his opponent, thanks to his mastery of [Perfect Body Control]. But he had also thought that Martin would have access to the resources of the Feuerkranz family, to help him recover swiftly. It seed that he had underestimated the extent of Martin's disadvantage, and he couldn't help but wonder if he had gone too far with his final attack, crushing Martin's sternum and leaving him incapacitated.
As the feelings of guilt intensified, Zeke thought about all the tis that Martin had worked against him and the plan he had devised to humiliate him in the duel. He thought about all the monts Martin had tried to dean and belittle him, and how he had been seeking revenge. The guilt lessened significantly in the face of this realization, and he was filled with a sense of righteous anger towards Martin. But all those thoughts were blown away when he rembered what had happened after the fight.
With a hint of excitent in his voice, Zeke told Maximilian the piece of good news he had kept secret until now. "When I blocked all those spells with my [Spatial barrier], I felt a pressure from my space core. I'm pretty sure my space core is ready to evolve," he said.
Maximilian placed his hand on Zeke's chest and confird his suspicion, the apprentice's space core was indeed ready to be evolved. "I am a little surprised by the speed of your growth," he said, thoughtfully, "But now that I think about it, the most talented youngsters all go through spell engraving over their sumr break the end of the sester is only a month away now."
Zeke was taken aback by Maximilian's words, he had only been at the academy for a little over four months now, how could the sester already be over? Maximilian explained to him that a sester at the academy was only five months, followed by a month of sumr break.
"And don't forget," he said, "At the end of the sester there is always a big exam to asure if the students are making progress. And at the end of the year, there is the class advancent exam. All the students, who don't make it, have to either repeat the year or risk getting expelled after having to repeat more than three tis."
As the thoughts of the upcoming exams filled his mind, Zeke felt a knot of nervousness form in his stomach. He turned to Maximilian, "Will the test be hard?" he asked, his voice betraying his apprehension.
Maximilian laughed, "Don't worry, my boy," he said. "You'll only be tested on general magical knowledge as well as your three affinities. Since the classes on blood, space, and mind magic are severely limited in what they teach, the tests on those subjects will be easy as well."
Hearing this, Zeke felt a sense of relief wash over him. The knot in his stomach untied itself, and he felt the tension leave his body. The words of his ntor, who had always been a guide and support for him, filled him with a sense of confidence, and he knew that he could pass the exams with ease.
With a twinkle in his eye, Maximilian teased Zeke by saying, "What you should really be afraid of is the question on how to spend the long sumr break."
Zeke laughed, understanding the jest, and replied, "I want to visit my ho and my parents, I miss my little sister." He continued with a hint of excitent, "I also need to tell my parents that I have been adopted into the von Hohenheim family and that we are technically all nobles now."
Maximilian listened to Zeke's plans, nodding in agreent. "It is good that you want to see your family," he said, "But sumr break is also a ti when students go on longer missions away from the capital to gain real-life experience. You should not spend all your ti relaxing with your parents, but also go out and explore."
Zeke considered this and realized that his ntor was right. He nodded, "You're right, I will do that. My parents would surely be happy if I could stay ho for a week, but the rest of the sumr break can be spent adventuring."
Maximilian smiled, pleased with his apprentice's willingness to learn and grow. "That's the spirit," he said. "Go out and experience new things, et new people, and discover new places. That is how you will grow the fastest as a mage."
Maximilian turned to Zeke, "We won't have to hurry as much this ti," he said. "But I still want you to engrave your space affinity core before sumr break. It wouldn't be a good idea to leave the core unevolved over the sumr break."
Zeke agreed wholeheartedly, rembering the pain he had gone through after not evolving his blood core for too long. He knew the importance of evolving his core in ti, and he also rembered the benefits of it, the power it gave him.
With determination, he added, "Luckily, my [Perfect Spatial Awareness] spell is coming along nicely, and I have no doubt that I could master it in no ti at all if I focused on it." He knew that mastering this spell would bring him closer to evolving his core, and he was eager to do it.
Maximilian, seeing how motivated Zeke was, decided to put even more oil on the fire, "If we manage to evolve the core early, I can start teaching you the spell for your mind magic. That way, you can continue to practice your mind magic spell over the sumr break."
Hearing this, Zeke was even more determined to master his space magic spell as soon as possible. The thought of being able to learn and practice a new spell over the sumr break was exciting, and he knew that it would bring him closer to his goal of becoming a powerful mage.
But before he could get started on his plans, there was a knock on the door. The butler stepped into the room a while later and told Maximilian that the "little miss Windtnzer" had arrived and was waiting downstairs. Zeke was confused, since he didn't know who that was. Maximilian responded to the butler's announcent, "Bring her up, then."
Zeke looked at Maximilian, confused by the sudden arrival of this unknown girl. But the old man just smiled enigmatically, not offering any explanation.
A few seconds later, the door was kicked open, and a petite young woman flew into the room, landing proudly in front of Maximilian. "I have arrived," she declared, hands on hips and chest puffed out in pride. Zeke simply stared at her, unable to process this unexpected situation. But Maximilian started clapping, as if he had just seen sothing truly amazing.
The scene in front of him confused Zeke greatly. He looked from Maximilian to the small girl, and finally asked, "Old man, who is she?"
Maximilian looked at him in astonishnt, "You don't know who she is?"
Zeke studied the girl more closely. She had a pretty face, with big innocent eyes and a cute nose. Her mouth seed to be in a perpetual, cat-like smirk, and she had a surprisingly curvy figure for her tiny stature. She looked back at Ezekiel as he looked her up and down, a knowing smirk on her face. Ezekiel had the feeling that he had seen her before, but he couldn't rember where.
After Ezekiel looked at the girl for a while, he made an expression of realization and said confidently, "Is this the woman of my dreams?"
Maximilian was flabbergasted by Ezekiel's nonsense and without replying, he smacked the boy across the head. Undeterred, Ezekiel blurted out a different answer, "Is she my new mommy?" Maximilian wanted to hit the boy again, but then he realized that Zeke was just ssing with him.
Maximilian cleared his throat and began to explain the girl's identity. "This young lady is Viola Windtnzer, a prodigy in wind magic and one of the most talented students at the academy. She is a second year student, and she's also the granddaughter of Duke Windtnzer, one of the most powerful and influential noble in the kingdom and the headmaster of this academy. I have taken her under my wing as my personal assistant. She's here to observe and assist in your training, as well as to help you, Ezekiel."
He gave a small smile, "I believe that having her as a partner in your training will push you to new heights and help you reach your full potential."
As Maximilian introduced her, Viola grew even more proud and self-assured. She looked at Ezekiel with a gaze that seed to be waiting for praise, but when she heard no words of admiration from him, her expression faltered. She let out a small pout and crossed her arms over her chest, "You're such an ungrateful bastard," she said, a hint of annoyance creeping into her voice. "A lot of people would give their right arm to be able to train with ."
Viola quickly turned to Maximilian, her deanor shifting to one of vulnerability and accusation. "Grandpa, he's bullying ," she said, her voice trembling slightly. "I don't know what I've done to deserve this kind of treatnt, but it's not fair. You have to do sothing about it."
Maximilian looked at Ezekiel, who shook his head in disbelief. "I have not done anything of that sort," he said, his voice firm.
"Grandpa, please don't believe him. He's just trying to cover up his actions," Viola said, her voice trembling with emotion. "I just want justice, I want you to do sothing about this."
Viola's expression softened at Maximilian's laughter, a hint of a playful grin tugging at the corners of her mouth. "Fine, fine," she relented, rolling her eyes playfully. "But you can't bla for trying, can you?" Maximilian chuckled in response, shaking his head. "And don't even think about calling 'grandpa'," he warned, wagging a finger in mock admonishnt. "Your real grandfather would have my head if he knew."
Viola let out a theatrical sigh, pouting for a mont before shrugging her shoulders. "Well, I suppose I'll just have to find a new nickna for you then," she said, her eyes sparkling with mischief. "But enough about that, what are we going to do for training?"
Maximilian leaned back in his chair, considering her question for a mont. "Well, first things first, we'll start tomorrow," he said, reaching out to pat her on the shoulder. "But for now, why don't you two spend so ti getting to know each other? It's not every day that we have such a charming guest."
Viola bead at the complint, a pink flush rising to her cheeks. "Sounds like a plan," she said, her excitent palpable. "I can't wait to see what kind of training you two have been up to. My Grandpa told that you are an absolute genius when it cos to teaching spells."
Maximilian gave her a small smile, proud of being recognized for his talents. "That's right, I bet you'll be impressed," he said, "but for now I have to go, I still need to prepare a lot for tomorrow's training." And with those words he left the two of them alone.
Ezekiel looked over at Viola, she waved goodbye to Maximilian and then also turned to look at him. They both stared at each other in silence, and Zeke had no idea what to talk to her about now that Maximilian was gone.
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