"I see. So that's what has been bothering you lately," said Asthia as we walked down the winding roads of the Academy. I grunted amicably.
"Yea... damn this mind-reading stuff is going to be hard to get used to," I sighed. "I just don't know how to approach her."
Asthia and I were separated during most of the day, with our classes taking place at different times and with different professors. That being said, there were still a few lessons we shared, one of them being the new advanced-bind course organized by Amelia.
Considering I had spent the last few days stuck inside classrooms listening to lectures, a second that would allow me to stretch my legs and practice some magic was exactly what I needed.
We entered the large dome-shaped arena, a building that had been reserved solely for this class. Amelia had apparently requested an entire building be sectioned off for her lessons, and the school had accepted under the condition that the structure at least remained intact by the end of the year.
The pink-haired adventurer was standing in the middle of the large open space, grinning at the sight of her two first students.
"Welcome, welcome!" she said excitedly, "It seems like you two will be the only ones joining today, so let's get started."
"The others aren't coming?" asked Asthia.
"There are only five first-year advanced binders. I believe Princess Diana and Mr. Haus had something to do at this time just as an exception, so they won't be joining us."
There was no need to name the final member who wasn't joining, the answer painfully obvious to both myself and Asthia.
It was Mia.
"The first thing we'll do is share. It'll be important later on to know what everyone here is capable of doing, so I'll start!" said Amelia. "I'm an S-rank lightning binder with fire and wind attunements."
Amelia briefly displayed her aptitude with each named element. I was impressed with her ability to manipulate three separate elements, a feat extremely rare for any individual nowadays in Auroria.
"I'm an unranked infernal binder with fire and earth... attunement," said Asthia, clearly not used to the terminology that the humans used to describe the manipulation of a certain element. Attunement wasn't a real concept in Lares, but we weren't supposed to divulge any information regarding training with the Dragons to any other race. There was no need to release information that could potentially be used against us.
The gazes of the two girls shifted to me.
I was aware that Asthia already knew the elements I was able to manipulate, but the question was how much I should share with Amelia. Asthia looked at me cautiously, wondering how much I'd choose to disclose.
"Amelia," I said simply.
"Yes?"
"Can I trust you?"
It was an extremely simple question, but the most basic of questions also created the most obvious body reactions. My eyes darted as I noticed her body tense up at the question, surprised. Her hands were perfectly still with no hint of any trembling, her voice remained calm and steady.
The girl suddenly burst out laughing, a reaction I had expected from her.
"What? Yes, of course, you can!"
Even Asthia was locked on the S-rank in front of her, watching for any irregularities. There was no hint of humor or glee on the Princess's face, her eyes deadly serious.
I was by no means a perfect reader, and flaws in my analyses could always happen, but from what I saw, the girl was telling the truth. I believed trusting Amelia could ultimately benefit both me and Asthia. If she knew what I was capable of doing, then she'd be able to properly train me according to my needs without me having to hold back.
"I see. Well, I'm a double advanced binder with lightning and ice, with quadruple attunement with all four basic elements."
Amelia remained silent, trying to process the information. She suddenly smirked, her eyebrows raised.
"Ok, seriously now, Jay," she said jokingly. "Lightning and fire I've seen, do you have maybe one more? Three is already incredible, you know?"
I sighed, drawing on the bind around me.
BOOM
A massive surge of bind suddenly swirled around me. I concentrated, attempting to simultaneously manipulate six different elements.
The four basic elements surrounded me like circling rings, my right arm crackling with electricity, and my left arm completely frozen in ice.
AMELIA LALA'S POV:
This has to be some kind of joke.
An eleven-year-old with a sextuple attunement? It was impossible.
This wasn't about me being in denial, it was a known fact. No binder in history had managed to manipulate more than three of the four basic elements, and here this kid was, manipulating all four basic elements and two advanced elements simultaneously.
The vibrant colors circling the kid entranced me, my eyes shivering at the sight in front of me.
And yet even with the impossibility of the fact, what stood before me was no illusion. I could feel the different binds only a few mels in front of me. The energy slowly died down, the boy sighing.
"I'd appreciate it if you didn't share this," he said casually, clearly drained from the short yet intensive manipulation.
"R-Right," I muttered.
This boy...
Even though his power wasn't close to that of an S-rank, the potential he had was off the charts. This was, without a doubt, the adventurer who would rise to the very top. If he mastered each element and learned to harmonize them together in a series of attacks, what could stop him?
Lightning was the element that, if used correctly, could defeat any other element due to its speed. But Jay didn't have that weakness.
As one of the only lightning users in existence and a very powerful one at that, his mastery of lightning could easily carry him to the top as it did for me. If you were to add five other elements, all of them mastered to a degree that was considered masterful...
The thought sent a shiver down my spine. The world was about to be swept up in a storm, and the center of that chaos would be this boy right here.
This was more than simply identifying a potential candidate as Auroria's sixth S-rank adventurer.
This was the possible emergence of Auroria's very first SS-rank adventurer.