-Oriana Mengral's point of view.
What happens when there is a genius who can dominate everything in a few minutes just by watching him for a few seconds? It is a question that many world-renowned wizards and the three supreme leaders of the wizard towers once discussed.
Certainly, for Oriana, it is also a question with a very clear answer.
Simply put, she is an absolute genius.
But, of course, a genius has a limit. There are geniuses who can only reach the fifth circle, and even if they reached that level in less than five years, that would be their limit.
Still, knowing what the limit of a genius is has no answer. Even the greatest genius of all history reached the eighth circle in five years, while the normal would be fifteen years.
But there are also the geniuses who learn skills in a fairly short time. However, at no time in the history of the world has a genius ever been known to be able to learn something just by seeing it for a few seconds and replicating it in a few minutes.
Certainly, this held Oriana in too much awe. It is even impossible to imagine someone with such an absurd talent.
But she couldn't deny it; that genius with an absurd talent was right in front of her eyes.
The silver-haired, red-eyed cadet, who is usually mistaken for a member of the royal family, and whose name is Asher Frostblade, was the genius with the most absurd talent Oriana had ever seen in her entire life.
In spite of that, she was still looking at her pupil.... No, her disciple.
Even though he only taught her knight training and not magic, still, Oriana considered him her disciple.
"Although I don't like him calling me master..."
In fact, that nickname from disciple to master is a term Oriana doesn't like.
"But now I think I would like you to call me your teacher."
Certainly, it's not because she needs requirements to be called a master; rather, she doesn't have any specifications, but that changed upon seeing her disciple just now.
It wasn't just Oriana who was seeing Asher.
Just like her, all the cadets present were watching Asher. In fact, they had been watching him all day, and now they were all staring at him without blinking an eye.
Aside from the stares, Asher seemed to be very uncomfortable and somewhat annoyed that they kept staring at him.
Seeing that Asher seemed a bit irritated by the whole thing, Oriana spoke up.
"Ahem."
There was silence and everyone looked back at Oriana.
It was working, and it looked like Asher was calming down a bit more. Seeing Asher's reaction, Oriana then continued.
"Well, this was unexpected..."
As much as she wanted to praise him for what he had just done, she couldn't. He had to maintain his status and have a decent and flawless demeanor.
Although the skill of "Reverse Flow" is a skill that takes a long time to learn, the first and foremost thing is to understand the flow of mana and have a mastery of mana control. But then, why did Asher succeed if he doesn't have that at his disposal at the moment?
Oriana knew right away. That means Asher must have his own way of replicating skills and improving them at his disposal, like a skill creator.
"Let's get back to class then Asher, could you come over here?"
To check if Asher created a reverse flow enhancement, Oriana was to stand closer to him and watch his mana circulate through his magic circuit.
Of course, this is a much better way to see the ability.
Standing right next to him, Oriana looked at Asher and then raised her hand, and a sphere of fire appeared.
"I would like you to show me the inverting flux you showed earlier."
He nodded, and then Oriana made the sphere move a little farther away from Asher.
Being at a good enough distance, Oriana spoke.
"Here we go, use the reverse flow."
The sphere of fire moved in Asher's direction.
Oriana concentrated mana in her eyes and activated one of her abilities. This allowed her to see the flow of mana inside Asher's magic circuit.
Asher did not move or even make any gesture to show a single movement.
He just stared at the sphere heading in his direction.
The murmurs of the cadets began to echo.
"Can't he anymore?"
"He will be struck by the fiery sphere."
They were common words and full of doubt.
But it was then that Oriana noticed something different in Asher's magic circuit.
"It's a mana control..."
Exactly, it was the mana control Asher had, but it was different.
"The reverse flux is combined with his mana control."
It was something Oriana noticed right away: combining two skills and creating a new one in just a few minutes.
"Hehe."
A chuckle escaped Oriana, and her face turned pale from the sheer surprise.
Then, suddenly, the sphere of fire that was heading in Asher's direction began to disappear, but just before it vanished, for some reason, the sphere took another route and veered off.
It went in the direction of Oriana.
Oriana looked at Asher, too surprised to notice the sphere of fire heading in her direction. What kept her engrossed, however, was Asher.
"He can even manipulate the abilities of others.... This new ability he created... it's too powerful."
Oriana then raised her hand and opened it. The sphere collided with her hand, but just before it exploded, Oriana closed her hand. Small flames shot out of her fingers, but nothing else happened, and the sphere vanished without further ado.
Her eyes were still fixed on Asher, who, without moving or making a single gesture, had deflected the sphere and, moreover, avoided the cancellation of the ability.
It was two actions in an extremely short time, and this left Oriana with a mountain of thoughts.
How did she do it?
How did she pull off a combination in a few minutes?
How did she control my ability?
How did he avoid canceling my ability?
They were an avalanche of questions, but none could be answered at that moment. In fact, even Asher himself might not have the answer, and Oriana knew that, but it was certainly amazing what he had done.
"Can I sit in my seat now?"
It was then that Oriana came to her senses. She was so immersed in her thoughts about how Asher had accomplished all that, but upon hearing Asher's words, she awoke from her musings.
Still looking at him in surprise, Oriana opened her mouth.
"Yes, go ahead."
Watching Asher's back, Oriana simply saw an incredibly talented genius at what he did.
"It's too much... Talent like that is too much."
But she couldn't deny it - Asher was a genius in every way Oriana could imagine, both as a knight and as a wizard.
"Hehe," she finally let out a laugh. It was subtle, and no one noticed, as everyone was still staring at Asher with wide eyes of surprise.
***
-Scene change.
-Asher Frostblade's point of view.
After causing quite a ruckus in the classroom of class one, it had finally been time to head back to the dorms. Standing in the usual circle, Asher could only think:
"Was what I showed so unbelievable?"
"Of course, you idiot, who the hell can do something like that in a few minutes? Even I couldn't do it when I was alive in the past."
Encrid's voice reached Asher.
"Encrid is right."
Isabella also gave her opinion.
Despite everything that had happened, Asher was still engrossed in everything he had shown. Not just what he had shown so far.
For him, it was simply something normal, something he could achieve naturally, like moving effortlessly.
It was something he simply achieved effortlessly.
But then, what could really challenge Asher?
"But it's no big deal."
"This idiot..."
"Stop talking, both of you. You've got me riled up."
"Okay, now that you've shut up.... Asher, can you let me out?"
"Me too. I feel uncomfortable being inside your head."
Isabella and Encrid quickly appeared in their human forms. Isabella sat on the bed, while Encrid, wasting no time, grabbed a book and sat in the desk chair.
"..."
"..."
"That idiot... Since when does he read books?"
Isabella glared at Asher. After a moment, Asher, feeling uncomfortable under her gaze, spoke up.
"Hey, Isabella, can you stop staring at me?"
"Let's go to the balcony."
That was all Isabella said. Asher obediently followed her and they both stepped out onto the balcony, closing the glass door behind them.
Isabella continued to watch Asher intently before speaking.
"Asher, do you really not remember anything from your past?"
"..."
It was a somewhat confusing question, and Asher didn't know how to answer right away.
"No."
"Then how come you're so good at everything?"
"..."
Another equally perplexing question for Asher. Before he could answer, however, Isabella spoke again.
"Do you know what reincarnation is?"
"..."
Suddenly, Asher opened his eyes, feeling choked, and his heart began to pound.
Slowly, he felt a kind of fear; it was slight, but he felt it only because of that question.
"Does Isabella even know I'm a reincarnate?"
"Did she know from the beginning?"
"Would she want something from me for being a reincarnate?"
These were questions that invaded Asher's mind.
Slowly, he took a step back, holding onto the balcony railing. He took another step back.
Seeing this, Isabella waved her hands and spoke.
"Don't freak out, I don't know why you're reacting like this if I only asked you a question."
Of course, she was lying. Isabella knew Asher was a reincarnate from the memories she had seen of him.
However, she decided to keep it a secret and not tell Asher anything. Just by seeing a bit of the memories of his previous life, Isabella knew that he had been unhappy, and of course, she did not want to take away what he had in his new life; rather, she was to help him in any way she could.
For this reason, Isabella did not let Asher know that she knew of his reincarnation. It was for that reason that upon asking her a question, Asher quickly showed a different state of himself.
"I asked him this question to find out if he knows anything about reincarnation, but I don't think I should have."
Looking at Asher, she spoke up.
"So, do you know what that is? It's something you only find in fiction books, and even though it doesn't exist, it's curious, isn't it?"
Asher swallowed saliva and answered.
"I... I think the same thing."
Of course, Asher was deeply taken aback at Isabella's sudden question.
"She doesn't seem to know anything about my reincarnation."
That was what he thought, even though Isabella already knew.
But Asher still felt that Isabella was lying and that she might know about his reincarnation.
"What if she knows, will she do something to me, will she kill me?"
Dying again was the last thing Asher wanted. This second life was a gift he had always longed for, and he didn't want anyone to take it away from him.
Biting his lips, Asher finally spoke.
"Why are you asking such a stupid question?"
"..."
Isabella didn't answer right away, however. She looked at Asher with surprise; she never thought he would speak to her that way. Even though she knew the question he asked her was out of line, Isabella needed to make an excuse.
"Come on, don't be like that."
She grabbed both of Asher's cheeks, pulled him close and hugged him.
"I'll help you accomplish your goal, even if I don't know exactly what it is, I'll help you get stronger."
Isabella thought to herself that, regardless of Asher's situation, she had decided to help him. Although she couldn't do much at the moment, she was sure that when Asher achieved some power, she would be able to offer him more meaningful support.
"And that jerk doesn't train him? Asher's incredibly talented and he hasn't trained him yet."
Her gaze fixed on Encrid, who wasn't even looking at her. He was concentrating on a book, not taking his eyes off the pages. This annoyed Isabella deeply.
"Let's go back inside, Asher."
At that moment, Asher felt something different, something new, and for the first time he could identify what it was.
"It's like she's a good mother? But, I really hope she doesn't know I'm a reincarnate."
Asher was convinced that he could face a dangerous or risky situation if someone discovered his reincarnation....