Even though Nathan appreciated Clara Marshall's attempt at comforting him, he had to say that it barely did any real work to change his disappointment. Instead, the warmth of the hot spring inside the living area turned out to do the job more perfectly.
Similar to the rest of the architectural style in the representative students' area, the enormous hot spring room maintained a dim, comforting light and soothing background music. The pillars around the area rotated slowly and elegantly. Simply lying on the edge of the pool provided Nathan with deep reassurance, serenity, and, most importantly, utmost confidence.
"If life could be like this forever, then who cares about learning Rune Arts and saving the world…" Nathan murmured to himself. Of course, it was a silent mockery of protest. He stared across the empty hall and wondered how joyful it truly would be if all those who suffered could relax together in the hot spring all at once. How loud the laughter would be, how wide their smiles would be.
But Nathan enjoyed the solitary quietness he possessed currently. Neither Lostburg nor the rest of the Imperial Academy had left him in peace and relaxation. Realizing that he could come here every day without having to pay any cost, an uncontrollable smile crept onto his face.
At least for now, Nathan was happy that he was fortunate enough to enjoy a life like this. He couldn't put his gratefulness into words; destiny had really been kind to him.
Yet suddenly, a voice rang out behind him.
"Hey, are you Nathan Modernson?"
Nathan froze—not because he knew who it was, but because the voice was feminine. His heart seemed to have sunk to his stomach. Had he possibly walked into the wrong gender's hot spring? Not to mention that he was completely naked.
"Hello? I'm talking to you." The voice continued speaking. It sounded exaggeratedly lazy and youthful.
Nathan needed to wake up from this nightmare as fast as possible. He squeezed his thigh as hard as he could, but after realizing that it had no effect, he finally turned back to face whatever was coming.
Coming into sight was a young girl, around 9–10 years old. But except for her height and face, everything about her told Nathan that her age wasn't necessarily a reflection of her true identity. People had always described Nathan's eyes as stars shining in the night sky, and truth be told, Nathan had felt ashamed to hold such a title before this girl. Her eyes were truly shining, perhaps the work of a Rune Art. She had two wands attached to her waist, meaning she was realistically at least above 16 years of age.
The girl seemed to be equally surprised to see his face, but unlike Nathan's shock and concern, hers seemed to be more like happiness and excitement.
"Perfect, perfect, looks exactly like him, mustn't be wrong then." She exclaimed loudly to herself. With a giant leap forward, she landed inside the hot spring slightly ahead of Nathan.
Nathan instinctively covered his eyes with his palms despite the fact that the girl was fully clothed. He asked nervously, "Who are you? What are you doing inside the male representative students' private hot spring?"
"Erm, people don't usually call me by my original name anymore, but as my apprentice, you can call me Lily. And to your next question, I can do whatever I want. No one here can stop me," she replied comfortably and sharply, already getting used to the warm and welcoming water of the hot spring.
"O… okay? Miss Lily, since when did I become your apprentice?" His hands were still pressed firmly against his face. The scene was funny enough to make Lily break into laughter.
"You don't know how many people humbly requested to become my apprentice. If I appoint myself your mentor, you don't have the right to reject me."
Somehow, this sentence seemed to have triggered a flame in Nathan's heart. He had always been restricted by the identity of a Lostburg citizen, constantly being told what he didn't have the right to do. After he had finally broken free of his shackles, he no longer wanted anyone to strip away the rights he appropriately deserved.
He lowered his hands—also because it was becoming quite exhausting—and stated in firm, confident coldness, "That's great, then. Now you know how it feels to be rejected."
Only after these words left his mouth did he realize what a fatal mistake he had made. Everything about the girl in front of him showed that she wasn't ordinary; confronting her might not have been the wisest idea.
But in response, the light inside Lily's eyes only grew more brilliant.
"NICE ANSWER!" She raised her voice, close to becoming a scream. "I love new experiences! You know that? Hmm, now let's try another method. Mister Nathan Modernson, would you please become my apprentice? Like, actually, please?"
Nathan was left dumbfounded again, but he managed to construct a reply before getting lost in her logic. "Do you also possess both the light and darkness elemental traits?"
Lily shook her head. "Nah, I have fire and water. See? That's why my clothes aren't getting wet."
Fire and water—another horrible combination that most Rune Artists would like to avoid. Though not as useless as light and darkness, it was equally conflicting and much harder to control. Also, if light wasn't part of her elemental trait, how could she explain the unnatural light inside her eyes?
Nathan shook his head in disappointment and resignation. "Then how are you supposed to teach me?"
"How's that? Why can't I?"
"There's no specific Rune Art that you can pass down to me, is there?"
Lily shook her head again. "I never planned to teach you any specific Rune Arts. Actually, I never planned how to teach you at all."
"Then why do you want to be my mentor if you don't know how to teach me?"
"Great point. I forgot why as well… Never mind, I remembered! You're the son of V, right? If I become your mentor, then I can treat her as my equal. Not so hard of a reason to understand, right?"
Nathan felt like he should just press his head down and drown in the hot spring. But on second thought, having a mentor without any restrictions or lessons to teach didn't seem like such a bad deal. With the title alone, he could obtain resources and fame that he couldn't receive before.
"Come on, don't look so hesitant! I can't teach you my own Rune Arts, but I can enlighten you on how to come up with your own!"
"How?" Nathan was indeed interested in this topic. Don't forget, he couldn't even graduate if he failed to create a personalized Rune Art.
"Everyone I told this little trick to managed to create their personalized Rune Art, so listen up close." Lily smiled proudly, her voice less enthusiastic and more serious.
"Think of what sets you apart from others, without bringing Rune Arts into the picture yet."
Nathan nodded and began to reflect on himself. There were a lot of qualities worth mentioning. But what was truly his greatest asset? His wits in communication and speech? His excellence in perceiving the environment and reacting to it logically? His confidence and determination? His enthusiasm and righteousness?
No, all of these qualities dimmed under one particular trait only Nathan possessed. It was something he had discovered just a while ago.
"My identity. I have an identity that alone could bring most people to their knees." Nathan replied.
"Exactly! That's what I thought too!" Lily complimented loudly. "Now think about how you can enhance this quality with a possible ability you could have. It could be imaginary, but try to keep it as close to your elemental traits as possible."
To be honest, Nathan didn't quite know how. "Erm… projecting a title above my head with light and darkness, saying 'V's son?' That probably isn't even personlised, projection Rune Arts had existed since the foundation."
"You're on the right track," Lily nodded with a soft smile. "You have all the time in the world. Take your time in a more refined, courageous approach."
Nathan scratched his head. "Some hint could really help out here…"
"Nope, it ruins the magic."
"Then what about you? You must have a personalized Rune Art, right? Reversing age or something?"
"Aren't you a genius?" Lily exclaimed again, as if her energy could never truly die down. "But my personalized Rune Art is special. I didn't really use this method. I don't know much about Rune Arts beyond the fundamental ones—except for the one I created myself. It turned out to be enough to solve any problem."
"It can be split into two parts: constructive and destructive rebalancing."
"To put it simply, I use the fire element to burn away what's unwanted, and the water element to reconstruct it into something better. Let me show you."
She climbed out of the pool with difficulty and drew her wands. For once, Nathan saw Lily's face completely replaced with seriousness and concern. The prior carefree feeling was nowhere to be sensed.
Unlike everyone else, her waist movements were slow and careful. After about a century-long five minutes or so, two complicated Runes, intersecting each other at the edges, materialized into existence.
The moment she pressed her hands on them, Lily's body was ignited with a blue flame. A screech of pain tensely charged across the atmosphere.
Then the flame slowly began to die down, leaving Nathan rubbing his eyes in wide astonishment.
Lily had become even younger than before, seeming more like a 5–6-year-old.
"See?" Lily smiled with her bright, brittle voice. "I burned down the aging components of my body and replaced them with younger ones! What do you say? Apprentice?"
Nathan exhaled deeply. "Mentor Lily, as your lowly apprentice, I humbly request that the next time you visit will not be when I'm not covered with clothing."
This was the first time Nathan had witnessed the absolute splendor of high-level Rune Arts in his life. He was still doubtful about Lily's identity and her true intentions in becoming his mentor, but he still gracefully accepted her request. In addition to that, one thing had become crystallised with terrifying clarity.
If mastered competently, it could certainly, certainly achieve anything anyone would ever want.