The girl that entered the sitting room was not at all what Bethany had expected, she was... flawless. Even for a child her skin seemed to be impossibly smooth, her long golden hair caught the fire as if it felt offended that something dared to produce light near her. Bethany felt as if her protection against sunlight would shatter at any moment because this little girl was the sun. Her cold golden eyes gazed upon Bethany and for the first time in nearly three hundred years... Bethany felt as if she was judged unworthy like her entire being had been analyzed and seen through in a moment.

  Bethany's keen eyes told her plenty about the girl, it told her how she had been tied up recently and how the small animal she had sensed was likely a cat and belonged to this girl. But there was more to it, like how those cold eyes felt older than that of a little girl. But it wasn't just the appearance of the little girl, or how she carried herself, no most importantly was what she could tell from everything else. Bethany was a vampire, it allowed her to be highly attuned to the life force of other creatures, to sense it, even see it with the right usage of skills. Her status as a highly powerful mage also gave her understanding of Mana at a deeper level than most.

  So to see a child with such a dense lifeforce was one thing, it happened occasionally. Some were simply born with a stronger lifeforce than others, or sometimes they committed atrocious magic called Soul Magic, just thinking of it made Bethany sick and she drank blood. Of course this child had not devoured another's soul to empower its own. Simply one of the lucky ones that was born with a stronger soul surely. But... that Mana, she had never seen anyone with Mana so... pure.

  The purity of mana was based on a lot of factors, normally the most pure mana was found in places where rituals were actively done to purify it. But this girl... she was simply breathing out the purest mana Bethany had ever seen like it was second nature. What's more is the way Mana seemed to follow her. The mana in the air directly around her was far denser than anywhere else in the manor. However, with her keen eyes Bethany was able to tell it was actively trying to follow her wherever she went. The Mana would occasionally lag behind before quickly chasing after the young noble.

  "A pleasure to meet you Lady De Cressier, I am Lily Lightlash. I've recently achieved the [Class] of [Mage]." The girl's words were calm, if Bethany hadn't known better she would have believed the bold faced lie simply because of the clear and even tone of the girl. Instead she raised an eyebrow, briefly considering using [Inspect] but that might be taken as offense. She chewed on the idea for a moment before disregarding it, she could get the real [Class] out of her eventually.

  "The pleasure is all mine Young Lady, I understand your lovely parents here wish for you to learn magic from me. I must warn that being my student is not easy and you'll have to prove yourself first," She said carefully. Usually when confronted with such a fact these noble types got upset. After all these children were... spoiled brats. However Lily did not react in such a manner, she simply nodded as if it was completely normal. How odd.

  Bethany turned her gaze to the parents, a smile on her face. "Is there anywhere you don't mind getting a little... torn up?" She asked. The two looked at each other before nodding.

  "Ah yes, there is plenty of space in the backyard. Lily…” Anthony said, a certain firmness in his voice that spoke of many stressful events caused by the girl's usage of magic. “Has already done her fair share of damage to it."

  Lily stood up. "I can take you," she said with a slight bow. Bethany nodded in return and followed the little girl. It was silent at first as they walked but Bethany quickly broke the silence.

  "So, in the employment scroll, your parents said you know three magics already," she said probing the girl. Lily paused her walk and looked at Bethany, a frown appearing on her face.

  "I do apologize; my parents provided you with incorrect information," she began. Inwardly Bethany jumped for joy, she knew it, ah it was nice getting the truth for once. "That is my fault I have not kept them updated, I currently have eight magics unlocked. Nine if you take into account [Lifestyle Magic]."

  Bethany stared at her, even fully activating [Mental Upgrade] to process everything her keen eyes were taking in from the girl's expression. She was... there was no sign of a lie, no... hesitation in her voice. And [Lifestyle Magic]??? Why would a noble have that magic! It was the magic of the people. Perhaps she could use that to weed out this lie.

  "[Lifestyle Magic]? Why would you want that? Cleaning and such are the work of your servants no?" She asked, staring into the little girl's eyes.

  Lily simply shrugged. "Why limit my magical aptitude on the limitations of society. A great mage should be able to do any magic not just flashy magic. I shan't be beholden to my servants to repair a small tear on my clothing or to remove specks of dirt from my shoes." Her tone was a bit more casual now, she then paused as if she realized how casual she had been. "Not to say flashy magic is bad Lady De Cressier, I've been told you have quite the command of [Glacial Magic] and [Black Magic]," she said with a tone of respect giving her a slight bow.

  If Bethany was a mind reader she'd understand that Lily had said that in hopes of showing her respect and honor. That she was worried she had made a poor impression by putting value on such a simple magic, but she was not a mind reader instead all she felt was... dread. Did she kill this child right here and now? How could it possibly know she had access to [Black Magic].

  "Tell me... Young Lady Lightlash, who exactly told you I am a master of [Black Magic]?" Her words were careful, she did her best to hide the edge in them by pushing the husk in her voice.

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  Lily seemed to quickly comprehend what had occurred; she sighed and pinched her brow. "That... is not common knowledge is it? Ah, I do apologize I was not actually informed at all about your visit until your arrival. No one primed me on who you are, only that you were a great mage here to teach me the arcane arts. So I... invaded your privacy and used [Inspect] to put us on an even level of knowledge."

  Bethany began to take it all in, she hadn't felt the usage of [Inspect] and she was extremely observant. It was nearly impossible to use [Inspect] on her without it alerting her in some way. She began to chuckle, "I see, I'll have you know that it is not normal that one manages to use [Inspect] on me without my permission. Surely you would not mind if I returned the favor?" She was still testing the limits she could push a lack of etiquette with this girl.

  Lily frowned, "I would... prefer if you did not. Perhaps if I pass these trials of yours," she said before turning and walking forward. Bethany would have laughed if it wasn't so insane, first the girl used [Inspect] on her without her knowledge and then she revealed she had eight magics, and then refused Bethany's own usage of [Inspect]. Just who in the thirteen hells was Lily Lightlash?!

  The two did not talk more going to the field, Bethany was entirely unsure how to properly handle this girl yet. She looked at the field and nodded. "This will do, to begin, please display your highest level spell from each magic you have." She felt smug in that one, claiming to have eight magics then prove it!

  Lily however did not seem stumped at all, she just looked towards Bethany and asked another ridiculous question. "Chanted or Chantless?"

  Lily sighed as she walked out away from the weird woman. She had messed up multiple times now! First she had revealed she had used [Inspect] on her and now she let it slip that she could cast without chanting which apparently wasn't as common as she thought! It was a skill you could buy with Skill Points so she had assumed most mages of high caliber had it. But apparently it was extremely rare. She appreciated that at least it wasn't completely unheard of.

  She thought for a moment, her highest level spell from each magic? She grimaced, she was going to have to listen to her "father" complain about the destruction of his beautiful property again... but raised her hands all the same.

  She decided she should probably save [Blaze Magic] for just before [Water Magic], hmm... yeah [Wind Magic] would be a good starting one.

  "[Bring forth a great storm, all who dare reject the call of the horizon shall know true fear, take freedom with your own talons and discard all desire, Vortex Descent!]" With every word the wind picked up, swirling the clouds above as a small tornado began to form, uplifting trees and earth as another formed and another, before long a ball of wind was formed before them, an orbit of debris within it before it exploded leaving a barren area of earth.

  Lily felt proud of herself, but that was quickly cut short. "[Vortex Descent], not the worst spell but... you use too much Mana. And your conducting could use some work. It's sloppy." The sultry voice broke through Lily's pride with a fatal hit. Lily grumbled, she's the one who asked for her highest level spells! "[Wind Magic] is one of the faster magics, you should focus less on the size of the ball and more on the speed in which you conjure it. Like so."

  The woman stepped forward, raising a hand as she spoke the same line, Lily couldn't help but watch as a similar ball of tearing wind formed; instead of the massive ball it was small, fitting in the woman's hand as she held it for Lily to see. "Casting as you did before may work for raw destruction but in actual combat?" The woman twirled a finger around the ball, before flicking the finger towards a tree. The wind ball shot forward and slammed into the tree, exploding once it had gone halfway in completely ripping it apart. "The difference between a great mage and someone whose unlocked magic is control. Try showing more control with your next spell."

  Lily couldn't help but be shocked, she had no idea you could alter the spell like that. She had already confirmed this woman was a powerful mage... but to actually see the results of such a thing was something else entirely.

  Control. She needed... control. She thought for a moment, the highest level [Earth Magic] spell she had was [Earthen Maw], usually it created a massive maw of earth to consume and crush its target... but perhaps she could change it. "Lady De Cressier, you are quite strong, yes? May I use you as a target for this next spell? I wish to test this concept of control and reshaping."

  The woman raised an eyebrow but shrugged, she floated over to the barren area of the field that Lily had already destroyed with her wind spell.

  Lily breathed, focusing on the Mana in the earth as she began casting. "[Within imagery there is power, I call upon thine great power, bring forth destruction and... pierce all my foes, consume all that opposes me, Earthen Maw!]" The earth shifted and erupted as a massive mouth of earth opened up clamping down towards the woman, Lily could feel from the Mana within the maw that she had succeeded, now for phase two of her plan.

  Bethany was curious what the young mage had planned, when she heard the chant for [Earthen Maw] she became less curious, if this child truly intended to impress her with a simple shaping of the maw to make it look fancy she was going to be- wait that maw had less shape than usual. Wait wait those were spikes, this kid was trying to kill her! She quickly brought up her hands to do the motions for a protective spell as she saw the absolute sea of rock spikes within the maw that was about to crash down upon her, there wasn't time, this Maw moved way quicker than most. How had she done that? Ah, because of the lack of shape on the outside... How smart.

  Bethany braced for the impact but was surprised as the spikes stopped just short of her, all around her they laid but not touching her skin. She almost laughed, she had pointed out the girl's lack of control and she had responded by showing her an obscene amount of it. How very fun! The trials at this point were pointless, with everything she had seen there was no way she wouldn't teach this child. But she still wanted to see what else she had up her sleeve.

  She casted a simple spell now, destroying the maw around her. She looked at Lily with interest, a smile across her face and the girl returned it with... nothing. She just had that look on her face as if she was not looking at Bethany but rather her soul. Honestly it was infuriating a bit, Bethany briefly considered how fun it would be to tease her when she was older.

  "Well I cannot deny that you exhibited greater control, but let's see what else you have there. I still need proof of your Eight Magics." She said with a sly smile.

  The young girl frowned, Bethany enjoyed that frown, she was far too... collected for a child it was unnerving.

  "Very well, you won't instantly die the moment I cast [Holy Magic] will you, Vampire?"