Soon enough, the two stepped to the center of the arena and saluted each other. The next second, both started rising up into the air. They were floating and watching each other with precaution, in a stalemate. ‘Sir, I’m going to be blunt.’ Soarame sent his last notice. ‘Please be alerted.’ Dean Harries didn’t say a word, but just nodded at Soarame with a smile on his face, as always. The next second, Soarame waved a blast of windblades at the dean, covering all the angles that he could dodge. The dean was taken aback – although he was expecting a ferocious attack, he had still underestimated Soarame. He hurriedly waved both of his arms in circles, making several eddies in front of his body. Each eddy caused strong turbulence that tore apart several windblades, so that altogether they broke all the windblades. After all, he’s an Expert. Soarame was impressed. The dean’s general understanding on Wind magic was much better than his, so it was not going to be easy to beat him in Wind. However, did Soarame ever plan to rely solely on Wind? ‘Soarame, your control of windblades is splendid…’ Dean Harries was impressed too. It was not easy for an Adept to spell so many windblades so fast, let alone with accurate aim. However, before he managed to finish his words, another blast of windblades had been sent on their way. Again? The dean was puzzled. Soarame was a smart boy, why would he do the same thing after the first attempt had failed? Just as the dean was trying to make the same defence again, he noticed that Soarame had drawn a circle with his wand, and a beam of strong light dazed his eyes in the next blink – mirrorface! The dean was caught off guard. He certainly knew that a blast of windblades would arrive the next split moment. For Soarame, aiming was never a problem, so once he’d mastered the mirrorface spell he could easily use it to accurately reflect the sunshine to the dean’s face. At this moment, Soarame was watching Dean Harries closely, trying to see if his secret strike would work. However – In the same instant, a loud, sharp noise sounded out of nowhere. The strange noise was different from any Soarame had ever heard before – it pierced his ears in no time and transfixed his brain, almost knocking him out. The next second, Soarame found himself losing control and falling from the air. He quickly managed to control the falling and landed properly. Shaking his head with both hands covering it, Soarame tried to clear his mind from the overwhelming dizziness and sharp pain in the head. Then he looked towards the dean, only to realize that the old man was all fine, totally unaffected by the windblades – and they were gone, for some reason. ‘Soarame, are you okay?’ The dean didn’t make an attempt to pursue an attack. He was worried that his last action might have injured his student. ‘I’m fine, don’t worry.’ Soarame took a deep breath and kept his balance. ‘What was that?’ ‘I’m sorry, I was too hard on that one.’ The dean landed beside the boy. ‘It’s called piercing wave, an Expert Wind spell which I’m not supposed to use on students. Are you sure you are not hurt?’ ‘I’m fine, but Alicey…?’ Soarame turned around and found that Alicey was lying on the floor. ‘Oh no!’ ‘Oh dear.’ Dean Harries dashed over to Alicey, checking her status. Luckily, he soon confirmed that the girl was fine, although she had been knocked out by the piercing soundwave. ‘Thank Libral.’ Soarame was relieved to hear the dean’s conclusion. Alicey had been knocked out during Halgon’s transformation in MagiMax and missed a lot of the impressive battles that followed. She had really regretted that, and had always been eager to see Soarame battle again. However, this time, just when her wish was being satisfied, she missed it once again. ‘Okay, I think we are done here today.’ The dean shook his head. ‘My bad, I shouldn’t have done that.’ ‘No, it’s me. I forced you.’ Soarame hurriedly spoke up. ‘What happened anyway? What exactly was that spell, and how did you dodge my windblades blinded?’ ‘I didn’t dodge them. With your precise aiming I can’t dodge them.’ The dean had to admit that Soarame’s skills on windblades had reached a considerable level. ‘The only choice I had was to break them, using that spell, piercing wave. This spell strongly vibrates Wind elements, so that your windblades were broken.’ ‘All of them?’ Soarame was surprised. ‘I cast a dozen windblades, and you broke them all at once?’ ‘Yes, it’s an Area-of-Effect spell that vibrates all Wind elements within its range.’ Dean Harries nodded. ‘And, as you’ve seen, as the result of the vibration, the spell generated a strong pulse of piercing noise. This noise can hurt ears and brains, so it can do damage to mind oceans and shock people into coma.’ ‘There’s such a spell? It feels so different!’ Soarame was surprised. According to the dean’s description, this new spell didn’t feel like any Wind spell that he had learnt so far; but he hadn’t figured out a clear clue yet. ‘Yes, it is different.’ Dean Harries helped the boy out. ‘For ordinary spells like wind summoner or windblade, you first summon Wind elements, then cast them to strike. But for this one, you don’t summon the elements – you distribute vibration to them instead. It is the vibration that does the damage, not the Wind elements.’ ‘It makes the air vibrate?’ Soarame nodded as he was reminded of Ecrif’s words that day. ‘So it shakes the air to create the noise, and does damage through that?’ ‘You are almost right,’ the dean said, encouragingly. ‘But it shakes the Wind elements first, then the air. There’s a subtle difference between the two things.’ ‘And what is that?’ Soarame’s eyes brightened. He recalled that the cold voice in the Godmade had told him something similar. ‘Isn’t the air made of Wind elements?’ ‘Great, great question! I wouldn’t have expected you to ask this yet,’ the dean said as his eyes widened. ‘The short answer is that the air is made from Wind elements, but not made of them. But wait a minute – who told you about this?’ ‘No one. I just like to wool-gather.’ Soarame hurriedly made it up. ‘What’s the big deal?’ ‘What’s the big deal? What you are talking about is the Essence of Wind Elements – what they are, and why they are what they are. By answering that question, you can further answer the question of where this world comes from, and why!’ The dean’s breath quickened. ‘That’s the ultimate goal of every single wizard in the top rank, because the answer can not only give them understanding, but also incredible power!’ Soarame nodded as he listened. The dean had just made the same claim as had the cold voice in the Godmade. But Soarame was not sure about one thing – ‘Power?’ ‘Of course, power!’ The dean sighed and shook imperceptibly. He was a bit disappointed to realize that the boy had accidentally asked such a profound question without really thinking it through. ‘Think about it – once you know how magic elements form the world, you then, of course, know how to best utilize them to serve yourself!’ ‘That’s… true!’ Soarame punched his own palm – the success with the mirrorface spell had been vivid proof of the dean’s claim! With that, Soarame suddenly realized that he still hadn’t fully appreciated what Ecrif had brought to him – the learning opportunity from a Godmade was probably the ultimate treasure a wizard could ever dream of! ‘Anyway, that’s enough for today.’ Dean Harries gradually suppressed his excitement. ‘Unfortunately, after so many years’ practice, I still can’t decode the subtle connection between Wind elements and the air. Similar questions in other lineages are always challenging topics for all Expert wizards, and even Masters. It’s great of you to start thinking about it this early, but I suggest you don’t waste your time on that until you become an Expert.’ Vibration of Wind elements… spreading in the air… After taking care of Alicey, Soarame kept thinking deeply. At the boy’s repeated request, the dean had given him instructions on piercing wave before he left, which was really exciting. But the boy’s ambition was not just to learn the spell, but also to understand the “how”s and “why”s – it seemed that there was a long way to go though…