Volume 1 — Chapter 4: The Teacher

The door opened.

Mumei stood behind her parents and looked outside.

A woman was standing there.

She had long hair, a calm expression, and pointed ears.

Mumei's eyes widened.

An elf!

She had read about elves in the books her parents had given her.

They were one of the ancient races of this world.

They were known for their long lifespans, affinity with mana, and natural connection to magic.

But seeing one with her own eyes was completely different.

Mumei stared at the woman.

My teacher...

She looked beautiful.

But beauty wasn't the only thing Mumei noticed.

There was something else.

A pressure surrounded the woman.

It wasn't threatening.

Yet it was powerful enough for Mumei to feel it even without understanding what it was.

Her aura...

Mumei remembered the books she had studied over the past ten years.

Aura was described as the power of the mighty.

Swordsmen were known for using it.

But powerful mages could also manifest aura.

Only the strongest magicians in the world were capable of doing so.

Other races were known to use it much more frequently than ordinary humans.

Aura was a force created by the combination of willpower and power.

A swordsman used their will to manifest it.

A mage could use mana to produce the same phenomenon.

Mumei looked at the woman again.

She's incredibly strong.

The elf noticed Mumei staring at her.

She smiled.

"So, this is my student."

Mumei suddenly became nervous.

The woman looked at her carefully.

But inside, the elf's thoughts were completely different.

Her mana...

She couldn't believe what she was sensing.

Why is it so immense?

The woman's expression remained calm.

But she was shocked.

She had sensed powerful magicians before.

She had encountered swordsmen capable of manifesting aura.

She had even met people whose strength exceeded ordinary human limits.

But the mana inside this little girl was different.

It was vast.

Far too vast.

The woman remembered something she had heard in the village.

There had been rumors about a strange girl.

A child who had been given a name connected to an ancient god.

Mumei.

The Nameless Girl.

At the time, the elf had thought it was nothing more than a village rumor.

Now she wasn't so certain.

What exactly are you?

She looked at Mumei.

She could already tell that the girl would become incredibly powerful in the future.

But she couldn't imagine how powerful.

Nor could she imagine how much Mumei's destiny would eventually affect her own.

The true power sealed within the child remained hidden.

---

The Teacher

Haruto stepped forward.

"Welcome."

The elf nodded.

"Thank you for inviting me."

Yuna smiled.

"We're glad you came."

The woman introduced herself.

"My name is Elena Sylvaris."

Mumei quietly repeated the name in her mind.

Elena Sylvaris.

Her new teacher was an elf.

That alone made Mumei excited.

She wanted to ask dozens of questions.

But she remained quiet.

Haruto and Elena began discussing the details of her training.

They talked about the schedule.

The lessons.

The amount of time Mumei would spend studying magic.

Her swordsmanship.

Her physical training.

And the other skills she would need to learn.

Yuna also explained what Mumei had already learned from her parents.

"We have taught her basic magic, swordsmanship, healing, defensive techniques, and survival skills."

Elena nodded.

"And her unique magic?"

Haruto glanced at Mumei.

"She has created several spells herself."

Elena looked at the girl.

"Show me."

Mumei nodded.

She walked outside.

---

Water Fortress

Mumei stood in the garden.

She raised her hand.

Mana began gathering around her.

Water appeared.

At first, it was only a small sphere.

Then it expanded.

Mumei guided it with her hands.

The water rose from the ground.

Walls formed around her.

One.

Two.

Three.

Then several more.

A large structure made entirely of water appeared.

Mumei looked at Elena.

"This is my Water Fortress."

Elena's eyes narrowed.

She studied the spell carefully.

This isn't ordinary Water Magic.

The spell was extremely unusual.

Mumei wasn't simply manipulating water.

She was controlling its shape, density, movement, and defensive structure simultaneously.

Elena remained silent.

"Very impressive."

Mumei smiled.

Then she raised her hand again.

---

Rain

The water fortress disappeared.

Mumei looked toward the sky.

Mana spread through the air.

Clouds began forming above the village.

Elena looked upward.

A single drop of water fell.

Then another.

Soon rain began falling.

The shower became stronger.

The entire garden was covered by rain.

Mumei smiled.

"This is Rain."

Elena's expression became more serious.

She created another spell.

The girl wasn't simply copying spells from books.

She was creating her own magic.

And she was doing it naturally.

Mumei didn't even seem to realize how unusual that was.

---

Water Blades

The rain slowly stopped.

Mumei looked at the droplets remaining in the air.

She raised her hand.

Several droplets floated toward her.

She compressed them.

The tiny droplets became thin and sharp.

Then—

Several water blades appeared.

They floated around Mumei.

With a small movement of her hand, they moved through the air.

Elena watched them carefully.

"Water Blades."

Mumei lowered her hand.

The blades disappeared.

Three unique spells.

Water Fortress.

Rain.

Water Blades.

Mumei had created them herself.

But there was something none of them realized.

Mumei had been growing for ten years.

Her mana had been growing with her.

The strange seal suppressing her power had once been enough to keep her enormous reserves under control.

But now...

It was no longer as effective.

Mumei herself hadn't noticed.

She had never had a reason to compare her mana with anyone else's.

To her, her mana simply felt normal.

She didn't know that the amount of power inside her had become something completely different from ordinary people.

---

The New Spell

Elena looked at Mumei.

"Can you show me something more?"

Mumei thought for a moment.

She remembered the lessons she had received from her parents.

She remembered wind.

Rain.

Storms.

She imagined a hurricane.

A terrifying storm.

A massive vortex spinning through the sky.

Mumei closed her eyes.

What if I combine everything?

Mana began pouring out of her.

At first, Elena didn't understand what was happening.

Then her expression changed.

"Mumei."

The girl didn't hear her.

She was concentrating.

The sky darkened.

Clouds gathered.

Wind began to howl.

The trees bent.

The air itself seemed to tremble.

Haruto and Yuna rushed outside.

"What is happening?"

Haruto looked toward the sky.

His face became pale.

"Mumei!"

The girl opened her eyes.

A massive vortex appeared within the clouds.

It descended.

The wind became violent.

The vortex touched the ground.

BOOOOOOM!

The entire village shook.

The storm expanded.

Faster.

And faster.

Within moments, the enormous vortex had engulfed the entire village.

People looked toward the sky in terror.

The trees bent under the pressure.

Dust and water were thrown into the air.

Elena stared at the phenomenon.

She couldn't move.

This is...

The spell continued expanding.

Mumei stood at its center.

But the expression on her face had changed.

She was exhausted.

Her breathing became heavy.

Why am I so tired?

She tried to maintain the spell.

But she couldn't.

There was simply too much power being released at once.

The enormous storm began to weaken.

Mumei's knees trembled.

"I can't..."

The spell disappeared.

The clouds slowly began to separate.

The wind stopped.

Silence returned.

Mumei collapsed to her knees.

Haruto immediately ran toward her.

"Mumei!"

Yuna followed.

"Are you all right?"

Mumei breathed heavily.

"I'm tired..."

Haruto caught her before she could fall.

Yuna held her tightly.

Elena remained standing where she was.

She stared at the sky.

Then at Mumei.

She couldn't understand what she had just witnessed.

That wasn't an ordinary Level 1 spell.

It wasn't even ordinary high-level magic.

The scale was beyond anything she had expected.

A storm had appeared from a child's imagination.

And it had swallowed an entire village.

Elena's hands trembled.

That kind of power...

She looked at Mumei.

Only gods should be capable of creating a calamity like that.

The thought frightened her.

She had come to teach a talented child.

But she had discovered something else.

A power that had been sleeping inside a ten-year-old girl.

A power that Mumei herself didn't understand.

Elena looked toward the distant sky.

For a moment, she remembered the rumors.

The Nameless God.

The mysterious girl.

The enormous mana.

Everything suddenly seemed connected.

But she still didn't know the truth.

Neither did Mumei.

The girl simply rested in her parents' arms, exhausted after releasing a fraction of the power sleeping within her.

And somewhere far beyond the village...

Something ancient had felt it.

The gods had noticed.

Again.

This time, they could no longer ignore her existence.

To be continued...

End of Chapter 4