Lowell's 5th birthday went off without a hitch. Her mom permitted her not to use the Magic Regulator, but Lowell thought it’s cute and re-sizable so she won’t remove it for the meantime. Weiss and her father gave her more books.

Her dad gave ‘Basics for Fire-element manipulation’ and Weiss gave her ‘Book for Basic to Middle Tier Fire Magic’. Lowell thanked them for giving her things that could aid her studies. After the party, her mom told her that her main attribute is Spatial. Now, Lowell realized why her mother insist her to always wear her Magic Regulator… After that, her mom asked her something:

“What’s your dream, Little Elle?”

Lowell answered with conviction and glittery eyes.

“To be like an adventurer like Mom! Mom?”

Numerous tears fall from her mom’s eyes.

“Mom, what’s wrong? Does your stomach hurt?”

Belle wiped her tears and returned to usual smile.

“Nothing, Little Elle. Okay, It’s time to sleep. We’ll go to Blanc City for your Fleur Registration… Goodnight..”

Her mom hurriedly returned to her room.

It looks like her stomach really hurts, Lowell thought.

***

As Belle entered her room, she slumped on the floor.

“It’s no use. Little Elle’s dream is to become adventurer… I need to do something…”

In Belle’s heart, she decided to block her daughter’s path of becoming an adventurer.

***

Next Day.

Lowell and her parents were walking around the city

Waaah~! So big!”

Lowell saw a big building. From what she heard, they said it’s Fleur Association’s Guild House. She and her parents were waiting for her teacher to come out from the building. Her teacher would act as her mentor, it seems..

When they saw her teacher coming out from the building. She’s wearing a violet robe, complimenting with her violet hair and tall height.

Lowell waved her hands cutely, making people notice this unnusually cute little girl.

“Hi Teacher!”

Both of Lowell's parents bowed as they saw their daughter's teacher.

"“Good morning, Ms. Aurel.”"

” Good morning, Mr. and Mrs. Zvalle.”

After greeting her pupil's parents, Aurel approached her pupil and smiled.

“Lowell, are you ready for your attribute assessment?”

“Yes, Teacher!”

“Very well, but first, let’s wait for your co-apprentices.”

“Co-apprentices? I’m not the only one who’ll take the test?”

“Yes. You have two co-apprentice. One’s Weiss and the other is..”

While both of them we’re still talking, a crying ragged child grabbed on Aurel’s clothes. He has an unkempt black hair and ruby eyes. Aurel looks at the child and said:

“Qazar? Why aren’t you dressed yet? What happened?”

“Dad beat Mom again… *sniff* I tried to protect Mom, but Dad sent me outside. He said that I should never come back… *sniff*”

That good for nothing.. I told your Mom that she should leave that useless man…”

“Dad isn’t useless!”

“I know, I know. Sorry.. It’s my mistake.”

Aurel looked towards Belle and Louis.

“May I trouble you for a minute, Mr. and Mrs. Zvalle? Can you take care of this brat here? I’ll just help my former colleague for a bit..”

Both of Lowell's parents nodded. Aurel looked at Lowell and said:

“Teacher’s off to save someone. Wait here obediently and make friends with Qazar, okay?”

Lowell looked towards Qazar, who looks back at her shyly. She returned her gaze to her teacher.

“Mhm! Take care, Teacher!”

Aurel hastily sprints towards the alley beside the Guild House.

“Soooo~~”

By the time she noticed that her teacher's gone from sight, Lowell jumped towards Qazar. He curled like a squirrel.

“I’m Lowell Zvalle. Nice to meet you~!”

“Uhm.. I-i’m Q-qazar… A-aquila..?”

Before Qazar could finish his sentence, Lowell grabbed his hand.

“Let’s play over there!”

She pointed on the playground on the other side of the road.

“E-eh? Eeeeeeeehhhhh?!”

Lowell dashed while holding his hand towards the playground.

“There they go…”

Louis looks at the children’s backs while they’re running towards the playground… rather, Lowell dragging Qazar towards the playground.

“What ‘there they go’?!”

Belle smacked her husband's head lightly.

“I’ll follow them, stay here so that Weiss and his butler can see you.

“Yes…”

Belle follows the children afterwards.

After five minutes, Weiss and his butler arrived. He wore formal suit, making him stand-out because of his yellow hair and blue eyes. When he saw Lowell and a kid playing, he hurriedly joined them.

“Lowell, who’s that kid?”

“My Co-apprentice, Qazar Aquila… You… why didn’t you tell me you’re also practicing magic with my Teacher?”

Lowell looked at him with suspicion.

“Ah.. well.. It’s not that I can’t tell you.. but…”

“But?”

“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!!”

He ran away.. Yeah.. He ran away!

Lowell: “Why did you run away?!!”

Lowell started to run. She looks like she's having fun.

“Don’t follow meee!!!”

“Why?”

“Because I said sooo!!”

“Say the reason, then I won’t follow you.”

Weiss suddenly stopped..

“Because.. if that happens.. won’t we become sparring partners?”

“Eh?”

“I don’t want to get hurt and I don’t want to hurt you.. So I thought it was better if you didn’t know..”

Lowell poke his sullen face.

“When did you start learning with Teacher?”

“Last month.”

“I see.. ”

So that means..

“Teacher didn’t teach you that magic shouldn’t be used to another person except for self-defense?”

“Ah? Ehh… Ehhh??!”

Lowell's revelation left Weiss dumbfounded.

“We could practice together, but not as sparring partners. It’s lonely to practice with Teacher alone, you know.

A smile beamed on Weiss’ face.

“Then… Then let’s practice together!”

“Mhm!”

“By the way… Why did you hold Qazar’s hand while running?”

Weiss looked towards Lowell's right hand. There, she saw Qazar muttering ‘I see stars’. She knew that she overdid it.

“Ah. Ahahaha~…”

After fifteen minutes, their teacher returned. She called on Qazar and returned to his house to dress him up. Lowell's mom used a spell that removes dirt from their clothes, but Qazar's body was all dirty so he needs to take a bath. After another ten minutes, they returned. Qazar now looks neat.

Aurel bowed in apology.

“Sorry for the wait!”

The adults told her it’s nothing but Aurel keeps apologizing.

“Then, let’s enter the guild!”

In response, her pupils responded with joyful voices.

“Yes, Teacher!”

Fleur Association’s Guild House is a large institution. When they entered the building, they saw the front desk full of people. It was mostly violet-robed Fleurs, but there are some blue and Green-robed Fleurs.

The first one to notice was Lowell.

"Why are there different colors of robes being worn here, Teacher?”

“Good you’ve noticed. Our robe’s color depends on our Fleur ranks. Purple are at Practitioner Tier, Green are for Professors and Blue are for Gaunts. You seldom see higher than that in our guild except for the leader, who wears Black – which is reserved for Meisters. I never seen a White-robed Fleur, which is a Magus, outside our country’s main capital. It’s the Main Librarian of Royal Library I’m talking about.”

More questions popped out of Lowell's mind.

“Then, what does apprentices use?”

“Nothing, because the minimum requirement to join is being at Practitioner Stage or master 3 middle-tier skills.. So.. after your attribute test, we’ll register you for a guild membership.”

“Yay! Not only I’m gonna be a registered Fleur, I’ll be a registered guild member too! My adventurer days are near!"

Belle's face twitched as she heard her daughter. Aurel noticed it.

“What’s the matter, Mrs. Zvalle?”

“Eh? Err… Isn’t it too early for Little Elle to be registered as a Practitioner?”

“It’s not that I have any choice. For her to demonstrate three middle-tier skills without breaking a sweat, and even different elements at that, no wonder her attribute test would detect her mana levels has already reached Practitioner stage. It’s good either way, because practitioners receive a monthly salary of Five gold.”

“Five gold?!”

In otheir country, Five gold is a good sum. Currency are copper, silver, gold, platinum, and mithril. Ten copper coins is equal to one silver coin, one hundred silver coins is equal to one gold coin, one thousand gold coins is equal to one platinum coin, and ten thousand platinum coins is equal to one mithril coins.

Mithril coins are only found on royal palace’s treasury and other higher nobles' treasury. Coins are hard to copy because it was sealed with a magic formation made by an ancient kingdom, which is now at the hands of the present royal family. Mithril coins can’t be reproduced because of its rarity and the seal would be absorbed by it immediately. When mana is injected, mithril would glow a bright green color, making it hard to counterfeit.

Their teacher continued toexplain the benefits of being a practitioner.

“Yes, since it is already a petty sum for Practitioners. They need to buy books, the cheapest costs two or three gold. You’ll also need accessories to aid your magic practices, like dummies, barriers, etc.”

“I didn’t know…”

“Well, because your parents are the ones providing it…”

Lowell looked on both her mom and dad. They avoided her gaze. Her dad was scratching his hair while her mom was scratching her face.

“I want to join!”

“Eh?! Don’t rush it, Little Elle. It’s our duty to provide you these things, you know.”

Her dad nods his head on agreement.

“But.. I want to help Mom and Dad… *sniff*”

Lowell started to sob. She knew she mustn’t sob.. but tears starts to fall involuntarily. Now, both her mom and dad panicked.

“Ah?! Don’t cry, don’t cry…”

“Why not compromise like this?”

Her dad gave a condition.

“You may join the guild, but you’ll only give half of what you earn to us. The rest is your pocket money. You could buy anything you want from your money, but we’ll still provide you of your educational needs, is it okay?”

Her dad looks at her with a kind smile.

“Yes, Dad!”

Lowell smiled and hugged both of her mom and Ddad’s legs. Her teacher Aurel was touched while watching in the sidelines while Weiss an Qazar had smiles on their faces. The butler remained emotionless, though

“Really, what a good child you have there, Mr. and Mrs. Zvalle.”

Both Lowell's mom and dad smiled towards Aurel.

After walking for a while, they arrived in front of a room with the name: ‘Blanc City Fleur’s Aptitude and Attribute Test Site’ posted on it. Aurel started to speak.

“Mr. Wislett? Are you there?”

A grumpy voice belonging to an old man responded to her voice.

“Who’s there?”

“Practitioner Aurel Hixia, I reserved three seats for aptitude and attribute testing today.

“Testee number?”

“#12, #13, and #14.”

The grumpy voice stopped for a minute unti it spoke again.

“Make the kids enter.”

Aurel: “Yes, sir.”

Their teacher looks towards them and gave them a warning.

“Enter the room and stay obedient, okay? You won’t like it if you make him angry.”

They all replied in a tensed voice.

“Y-Yes!"

Looks like their tester is a scary person.