"Oh? An ice sword? Amusing!" Ray dashes forward mana coating his sword,' let's see how she fares against this little trick.'

'It'd be dangerous for the mana I spent on my ice sword if I just allow it to be cut, so to avoid that I'll match his aura and mana coat mine too, protecting it.'

Notice: 500 mana has been deducted.

I walk towards my opponent and then attempt to hit the body from the left side, which my sword gets lightly touched to the side, making it be forcefully pushed away.

As he aims the sword towards my neck, I take an abrupt step backward losing a bit of balance, and summon an icicle between us from the floor which he is forced to cut.

Notice: 50 mana has been deducted.

I then readjust myself and summon two more icicles behind him while I ice bind him, and then follow with a vertical slash.

Notice: 150 mana has been deducted.

'This kid is crazy strong for such a young puppy,' Ray grips the sword and a mana aura fills the hand while opening the mouth," triple slash."

What follows afterward is purely amazing he slices the floor destroying the ice bind while rotating his hip which allows cutting the icicles behind, and then takes a step backward. The third strike he makes blocks my own.

'Just how fast is this old man? He looks ancient how can an old man still move like this? I was still able to damage him with ice bind, it's a hard one to avoid,' I stare at him doing a back step gaining some distance surprising me.

"It seems for a weakling you're not half bad, however, let's take a notch up."

He sheathes the sword and takes a stance by lowering the hips and curving the legs slightly, ending up leaning forward," lightning coat," and then slashes the air by unsheathing with an incredible speed whereas my eyes aren't able to follow.

Without realizing it a smile appears on my face, as I understand the gigantic gap between us on agility alone," I won't go down without a fight, ice coat!"

I shout eagerly unable to contain my excitement bringing a faint smile to mother's teacher's expression.

My surroundings start naturally freezing as the aura I gathered before takes the shape of my rare ice element affecting Ray's body cooling his muscles which should make the man's actions slower, and the floor hard to move through.

"Show me everything you got weakling!" He screams while feeling excitement on the inside while preparing to finish the try-out duel.

I look at mother who nods at me with a faint smile, I ice coat my sword further using my remaining mana.

Notice: 1400 mana has been deducted.

The close to 2000 ice sword coat freezes everything relentlessly around me, surprising Ray.

'Just how much mana does this little girl have for her age? Even I had about 1500 at her age and I was a very exceptional case where my parents would help me kill monsters and the like, giving me some early status and titles, just what has this girl been doing?'

He takes a glimpse of Rosa who's smiling happily at her daughter unable to contain her own excitement and proudness.

'You were very weak Rosa, however, at least your seed is quite promising, yet compared to me extremely powerless, for now.'

Ray starts laughing crazily while charging in, taking pleasure in such a duel.

'Now then I hope this works, ice bind,' I lock him on a floor with a great amount of ice this time around hurting the legs while the natural aura of my sword freezes his momentum further.

Notice: 250 mana has been deducted.

"Take this ice wave with all my power in it!" I grab my ice sword super tightly feeling my hands freezing while gritting my teeth.

I pour all the mana that was inserted earlier on the mana coating, and since it is shaped with my rare ice element a different thing happens than when using mana wave which generally bursts out a wide burst of energy.

This time around a very thin and clear light blue layer is shot, as icicles spread in random directions while they fly towards Ray surprising him, as he had never seen an ice element skill like this, in fact, he didn't have the chance to teach ice mages.

They would often learn magic instead of swordsmanship, not to forget it would require for their talent to be exceptional and to his liking.

Notice: The Skill Ice Wave has been acquired.

A smile that goes unnoticed by me and Rosaline spreads through his face.

'I could dodge this but that wouldn't make her understand the difference between us, in other words, I shall simply overwhelm it,' he laughs while charges the sword with a large quantity of mana blocking the flying strike causing a mist between us.

A sleepy tone then resounds in my mind,' the old man coming from the left, though there's not much you can do once he leaves the mist, yawn, you should go now and strike him,' upon hearing the advice my body moves and I do a thrust on the left side of the cloud where I end up grazing Ray, who places the sword on my neck flawlessly making me surrender.

The mist then dissipates and I see Ray smiling in front of me and then a voice," I like you, Iris, however, if you wish to learn from me then you'll have to stay here with me for 3 years, maybe a bit more, so that I can pass everything I know to you. Back then it was what I wanted to do with Sylvia, but she married meanwhile, in case you reject becoming stronger then you can leave and not waste my time."

Without asking mother's opinion or permission as she allows me and Aurora to decide for ourselves I reply instantly," I wish to become strong, stronger than everyone else," a smile of approvement appeared on Ray's face.

I then see my mother move closer to him giving him a paper which brings some surprise to his face, "a recommendation letter from the crown prince himself? How did you even manage this Rosaline? From the king's 2 sons and one daughter, that one is the hardest to approach, as Julius is usually surrounded by advisors and influential people who keep him quite busy," Ray rubs the beard while waiting for a reply with great curiosity.

"He took Iris twin Aurora to be the general of his army, apparently she beat Julius in a game of chess which caused quite a ruckus among the advisors, I believe advisor Mark and Ryu the head of the blue rose family was present."

"How about physical abilities does she have potential like this one?" A curious and wrinkled expression can be noted on his face as he rubs the white beard in vertical notions.

"Sister... was born very sickly and has a very weak body born without an element. Mark said that perhaps I was the one who got both blessings reason why my mana is so big," Ray keeps on repeating the same gesture some more while thinking on my words.

"I've never heard of anyone being born without an element, that's quite the strange blessing the goddess must've inflicted her which means the brain, must be the real thing catching the attention of the crown prince. Sounds like the future may have quite the interesting developments, too bad I might not live long enough to see them."

I look at him and realize how old he looks like hoping he'll be able to not die till all the teaching is cleared, "how old are you now teacher Ray?"

The eyes look at me while the body approaches, then place a hand on top of my head, "I'm 87 so once I'm done with your training I'll have reached 90, depending on how it goes perhaps 91!" Ray starts laughing as the world of swordsmanship he wanted to see was not obtained in this life, due to the somewhat low life span humans have.

I smile expectantly to learn a lot while hearing my mother's voice, " I'll be leaving now Iris, you know the way back if you need anything," she comes closer and hugs me very tightly almost hurting me while whispering.

"I love you so much and I'll miss you tons, so make sure you beat the crap of this old man fast, so I can have my adorable daughter back," she tightens the hug while Ray smiles upon hearing her words.

"Yes, mother I promise to do my very best!"

Rosaline then leaves as she has to go to work while we wave at each other and then once out of sight, Ray closes the dojo door and sits on the floor.

"So Iris what did you do to obtain such an absurd amount of mana at such a young age?" He looks at me curiously with a cautious tone finding it suspicious.

"To be honest... I did a lot of things from farming, fishing, cutting trees, cooked, read books, sold and bought things, gathered herbs, created potions I also fought a lot of monsters and am currently level 14, and I also spent all my points on wisdom."

"The church usually doesn't like that people farm titles so barely anyone does it, the reason why there are so many places, the adventurers are an exception which creates some strife between them and the church. Doing so allows us to learn skills and improve ourselves, however, like you, I did that too at some point. As such, I've grown quite strong, also had a very good teacher. The main difference would be, well... I'm a noble, so unlike you, I had all types of help and experiences since young. To think you'd be level 14 while being 8 years old, just how many slimes did you kill?"

I smile and then reply while finding his question interesting, "killed a lot of slimes, horned rabbits, kobolds, goblins, I'm an adventurer at the guild basically."

"Surprised that protective mother of yours even allowed it, but then again I suppose she made you learn what she knew before, how about your father what is he like?"

"Dad's a famous healer who has the unique light element, in the capital has some direct connections to the crown prince who ended up acting as a bridge for Aurora, my twin sister."

"For a peasant that's pretty good, there's only so much one can raise, but it seems both Rosa daughters will reach somewhat high. Not sure how far though, that'll depend on how much you're able to learn from me before this body reaches the limit."

'His attitude completely changed quite of a surprise, making people understand that you're worth something does make them see you with different eyes,' I feel relieved as I didn't like the attitude he had before.

"I shall do my very best to learn everything from the best swordsmanship in the Lumen kingdom."

"Possibly even in the whole world," he laughed," I'll use your recommendation letter to purchase all kinds of goods. I'll be back later, grab the chance to recover your mana meanwhile Iris."

"Alright teacher Ray, also please do buy me the 8 very best soul stones you can find," I smile happily as he leaves the dojo after nodding at me.

'Why does she want soul stones? Could it be perhaps that? It would certainly explain a lot of things. This kid really intrigues me,' Ray smiles while heading out to the village town.

I let myself lay down on the floor while opening status.

Notice: 10 mana has been deducted.

Status:

Level: 14 | Experience 1290/1400

Fame: 300 | Disgrace: 17000

Unique Class: Babel Witch | Rank 3 | Experience 3930/8000

Race: Human | Name: Iris | 8 Years old

Health: 750/750 | Mana: 20/3160

Status Points:0

Strength: 226(+11) | Stamina: 72(+5) | Agility: 85(+8) | Dexterity: 107 | Intelligence: 174(+10) | Wisdom: 300(+14)

Attack: 0 | Magic Attack:0 | Defense:0 | Magic Defense: 0

Soul: 7720

Titles:

Reincarnated+(S), Mana(S), Mana Exhaust(S), Health(S), Beginner Reader(S), Purchase(S), Wisdom(S), Reader Series(B), Body Training(S), Animal Slayer(S), Intermediate Reader(S), Cooked Fish(S), Preyed Upon(F), Cheater (S), Heritage(S), Amalgam(S), Ice(S), Cooked Bird(F), Cooking Series (E), Slayer Series(F), Sale(S), Advanced Reader(S), Soul-bound(S), Element(S), Contracted(S), Peasant (F), Class(A), Monster Slayer(D), Slime Slayer(B), Skill Mastery(A), Tree Chopper(S), Tree Type(S), Tree Series(B), Log Maker(S), Tree Planter(S), Book Thief(D), Criminal(D), Expert Reader(F), Herbs Gathered(S), Herbs Types(S), Potion Brewer(S), Potion Types(E), Status Mastery(S), Beast Slayer(C), Horned Rabbit Slayer(C), Potion Administered(F), Goblin Slayer(E), Orc Slayer(F), Assassination(S), Herbalist Series(C), Skeleton Slayer(C), Noticed(S), God Series(D), Potion Selling(F), Potion Failed(D), Potion Succeeded(D), Alchemist Series(F), Money Maker(S), Merchant Series(C), Trading(S), Herbs Sold(S), Herbs Bought(S), Acknowledged(S), Disgraceful (S), Ignored(S), Forgotten(S), Zombie Slayer(F), Creation(S), Ilusion Series(A), Deluded(S), Curse Slayer(S), Turtler Slayer(F), Corpse Transporter(S).

Completed Series: Fishing(S), Farming(S).

Skill Points: 1

Actives: Status level 60(C), System Library level 60(C), Mana Coat level 22(E), Mana Wave level 5(F), Ice Bind level 12(F), Ice Sword level 5(F), Icicle level 17(F), Long Slash level 13(F), Ice Expansion level 4(F), Ice Hammer level 1(F), Ice Spear level 1(F), Ice Wave level 2(F).

Passives: Bleeding Resistance level 20(E), Swordsmanship level 23(E), Sword Mastery level 14(F), Mana Control level 37(E), Ice Control level 26(E), Slight Wisdom Boost level 14(F), Slight Mana Recovery level 22(F), Acid Resistance level 1(F), Ax Art level 1(F), Ax Mastery level 1(F), Corpse Dismantler level 10(F), Brainwash Resistance level 75(C), Night Vision level 10(F), Slight Stamina Boost level 5(F), Slight Agility Boost level 7(F), Slight Strength Boost level 11(F).

Class Actives: Dark Alchemy level 52, Magic Analysis level 34, Destiny Cards level 1, Cursing Objects level 5, Decay level 5, Mana Shield level 2.

Class Rituals: Snow Falling level 30.

Class Passives: Dark Alchemy Mastery level 40, Witchcraft level 60, Curse's Mastery level 30, Ritual's Mastery level 30, Magic Control level 50, Magic Knowledge level 60, Ice Mastery level 20, Babel Mastery level 20, Grimoire Mastery level 20.

Babel Arts: Grimoire Possession, Grimoire Renouncing.

Unique: Appraisal level 53, Sealed[2/3].

Cursed: Unidentified Skill, Mirror level 7.

Rare Element: Ice.

Cursed Soul-bound(Grimoire Rank D: 190/400)

'I look forward to seeing the changes in swordsmanship and sword mastery compared to the future while learning with this person. Hopefully, I can one day surpass Sylvia, especially after knowing that she didn't finish her training due to marriage meaning there's a chance to grow as strong as this old man, perhaps even stronger. Wondering what other active skills I'll get, in the end, didn't get to see much aside of his triple slash which was similar to my mother's one.'

I look at the ceiling missing my silly sister.

'I'll make sure to catch up to you Aurora just you wait,' I raise my hand in the air and close it almost as if grabbing the air.'

I wonder what she's doing now...'