"Become your apprentice?" Ventus asked stunned, "why would I do that?"

"Well.."Richard replied, "For one, having a master will aid in the growth of your personal power and also your knowledge, secondly, you would be able to learn techniques and receive guidance on your training, and lastly, you need to have a master if you ever want to enter the Magi Association and have access to their resources and knowledge, they require an introduction from a member just to be able to participate in the trials"

"And who told you I wanted to enter the Magi Association?" Ventus pouted.

"Well, it doesn't take a genius to figure out you wish to master the Magi Arts kid" Richard chuckled, "You've been taught how to circulate your inner mana and use it to strengthen yourself as well as how to replenish it by refining world mana am I right?"

"Yeah, so?" Ventus snorted.

"And that indicates you've had formal training before" he spoke matter-of-factly, "No matter how talented you are, it is ridiculously hard to learn how to use mana reinforcement and mana refinement without proper training and guidance"

"And that also indicates that someone taught you since I can easily recognize the Entry tier - Whirlwind Revolution refinement technique you're using to refine world mana"

"You can recognize it!?" Ventus asked unbelievingly, "This is my father's original technique, how could you possibly know about? and what's that about Entry tier?"

"Remember the Magi Association?" Richard smiled lightly, "Almost no magi art is created without them knowing about it, especially if said art is created by one of their members"

"You're saying that my father was a member of the Magi Association?" Ventus inquired.

"Precisely" Richard replied, "Not only that but he was also well renowned for his High Tier High-Rank Tornado Policy art"

"Again, what's that about tiers, and also, what's that about ranks?" Ventus asked annoyed.

"Patience kid" Richard chuckled

"The magi arts are classified by the magi association into 7 tiers and each tier is divided into three ranks depending on the power, requirements, and usefulness of the magi arts" He explained.

"For an example, your whirlwind revolution refinement technique is an entry tier magi art, however, it is a high-rank one, making it one of the best on the entry tier"

"After that, we have the low tier, the middle tier, the high tier, the legacy, the inheritance tier and the legend tier" he continued. "And all of them are divided in low-rank,middle-rank and high-rank"

"That all said, your father was pretty impressive you know?" Richard commented.

"Why's that?" Ventus inquired.

"Well, living in a minor kingdom, in a small village like this one, he was able to create a powerful technique like the Tornado Policy magi art, that takes diligence and quite a lot of talent and luck" He replied.

"What exactly is so special about it huh? he never told me anything about creating a magi art" Ventus sneered

"He didn't? I'm quite surprised kid" Richard spoke, "I mean, the technique you're using is the very first technique of the Tornado Policy after all"

"What? what do you mean?" Ventus asked stunned, "Isn't the tornado policy just a single technique?"

At that moment Richard burst out laughing.

"A single technique!?"

"The reason your father became so well renowned wasn't due to a single technique kid!" he was baffled, "The reason your father became famous was that the tornado policy he created isn't a single technique"

"It is a complete set of techniques that range from the entry tier all the way to the high tier that covers all the subjects necessary for the growth of a powerful magus!" He spoke further.

"The tornado policy has techniques that cover mana refinement, mana reinforcement, and meridian tempering" he then continued "Not only that, it has offensive, defensive and movement techniques as well"

"And to top it all off, your father created techniques for one of the most difficult subjects to develop on" he then finished, " He created sensory techniques"

At that moment Ventus was astounded. He always knew his father to be immensely strong and also very intelligent, but he never knew that his achievements were that big! A surge of immense pride grew inside of him and made him feel warm inside, though, at the same time he found tears welling in his eyes and very soon he was crying once more.

"That's right kid, your father was just that awesome" Richard sighed, "Him dying the way he did...it was an immense loss for the magi association and for the progress of magi arts as a whole"

"I mean, I came to this small village to congratulate him for having his magi art officially recognized and bring him his reward for successfully achieving Grandmaster Magus rank." he sighed, "but it seems this time I have done my trip, unfortunately, in vain"

Richard then approached Ventus and gently place a hand on his head.

"It hurts, I know it does, cry now and let it all out," Richard said as he ruffled Ventus hair slightly, "grieve for now you have time and then rest, later we'll focus on healing all the damage you've received and then we'll talk more about what happened as well as about what you'll want to do in the future"

Ventus just nodded as he rubbed his eyes with his wrists. He didn't look at Richard anymore and silently let loose the hold on the memories he had suppressed. He let himself feel the pain and all the other raging emotions that came along with it.

He laid down and closed his eyes as his memories surged back. His breathing became slow once more and this time he purposely began to rest. He was really tired and all he felt like doing was sleep and try to escape this immense pain that was washing over his mind.

Richard looked at him for a few more moments and decide to let him be. He walked away and soon enough the sound of his footsteps became muffled as the door was shut.

Ventus's consciousness slowly but surely became ever more blurry and heavy, and soon enough he fell asleep.

This time, however, his rest lasted for a full day before he woke up once more.

He immediately focused on his inner condition. This time his expression was far better than when he performed the first analysis. This time he found out that under the mana quenching, his bones had greatly recovered and most of the cracks were mended, his internal organs had recovered completely from the stress, his muscles had fully been healed and were slightly stronger than before.

But when he went on to check his core and meridians, his former frown reappeared as his meridians and core hadn't recovered whatsoever, they were still as damaged as before. Though if Ventus insisted on looking at the bright side, he could say that at least his inner mana had recovered from the measly 10% to the much better result of 50%.

"50% still?" Ventus complained, "With how much I slept, I would've recovered to full capacity 3 times over by now"

With his condition improved he could move far more easily now as the pain had mostly subsided. He stood up from the place he was laying on and looked around him to see exactly where he was.

Ventus was stunned immediately. Before when he spoke with Richard he was so stressed that he didn't notice at all how much the man had taken care of him. He was inside a room that he immediately recognized to be on the best inn in the village. It was quite simple, with sturdy stone walls and a thick wooden door and at the door, there was a small golden tiger symbol that stood for the inn's name "Sleeping Tiger", he then looked at where he was laid down whilst he recovered and found out a single iron metal frame bed with thick plume pillows and dark beast fur covering the mattress, opposite to it was a sturdy brown wooden table with a single chair made of greyish white antlers . On the ceiling and on the walls there were candles lit up the room.

Though it may seem quite crude compared to inns and hotels at other more developed places, to the small Halley village this was something that not many could afford to stay a day in even if they spent their entire year's earning.

Ventus then looked at his body. His previous clothes were gone, he had bandages all over his body except for his face. Ventus was even more stunned, however, when he noticed that the bandages were not regular ones. They were inscribed with various runes and he could feel that his world mana absorption had risen by several folds and was being refined by a different technique than his whirlwind revolution. The mana that was refined became a gentle energy that was constantly nourishing his body and greatly accelerating his healing. He was marveled by the bandage's effects.

He then looked around and saw a single window, he immediately walked towards it and saw that outside was already dark.

"I slept quite a lot huh?" Ventus sighed.

Sounds of footsteps were heard coming towards the door, Ventus turned to face it, and soon enough it opened. Richard walked in and saw that Ventus was already up, in his face a smile lightly grew.

"Glad to see that my efforts weren't for naught," he said.

"Thank you for taking care of me, you really didn't have to," Ventus said as he looked downwards.

"It's nothing really" Richard shook his head, "Now, shall we talk about more important matters?"

Ventus simply nodded and sat back on the bed, Richard then grabbed the chair by the table and sat on it. he looked directly at the boy before him and after a slight sigh, he spoke once more.

"You lost your whole family in a single blow," he said cautiously, "I know that must hurt immensely to you"

Ventus didn't reply.

"Well, now that they are gone, I see three paths you can follow"

He stretched one finger.

"You can continue training with your whirlwind revolution and become a man strong above average, then you can find your job on the village and eventually build a family and, if nothing goes wrong, die a peaceful death of old age as you watch your kids grow with your wife at your side"

He stretched a second finger.

"You can also choose to practice on your own and then attend the selection to Lumina kingdom's military where you can get better opportunities and maybe one day to become a great person under the king if your achievements allow you to"

He then stretched the third and last finger.

"Or you can choose to become my disciple, and if you do, I'll not only introduce you to the magi association, but I will personally guide you on your training and you will have access to the full contents of the tornado policy"

"Wait" Ventus interrupted, "I will have full access to the tornado policy? isn't it my father's? why wouldn't I have access to it?"

"Well, if he were alive he could teach you and distribute his techniques to anyone he wished, but since he has perished, the rights to the tornado policy and it's distribution belong to the magi association, and that's because of the contract he signed when he joined the association"

"In any case, you'll have to worry about that later, right now, you must choose a path" Richard chuckled, "So, what will it be? what will you do?"

Ventus frowned slightly and began pondering the options. He had his ambitions, even more so now that his family died. He needed the power to take his revenge, and as such, becoming just a strongman in the village wasn't an option.

Joining the military on his own might be quite honorable, but something told him that this status was simply nothing, and the resources he could get from the military would also be heavily restricted. As such, joining the military was simply not enough.

So, after a few minutes of pondering Ventus came to the natural conclusion. Becoming the disciple of someone stronger than his father that was recognized as a grandmaster magus was certainly a good thing, plus, joining the magi association would grant him access to his father's Tornado Policy which he already had his training on, and he didn't want to change it.

"I will become your disciple" Ventus stated.

"Excellent, you sure know what's best" Richard replied happily.

"But how do I become a disciple anyway?" Ventus inquired.

"Well, first you pass through an assessment to check your potential, then you must register yourself under your master's tutelage on the magi association and start your official training as an apprentice magus"

"Check my potential? what's that about? didn't you offer to become my master because I have a good potential?" Ventus questioned annoyed.

"That's indeed why I offered you this opportunity" Richard replied smiling, "With my strength, I can certainly determine if you have potential or not, but to have a precise measurement of your talent, strength, and mana affinity as well as to register your strength on the magi association's database, i must use more thorough methods"

"Okay, and how will we do that measurement?" Ventus asked.

Richard then procured from his robes a blue gem the size of a fist and showed it to Ventus.

"Well, with this marvelous invention from the magi association, the avatar stone" he smiled, "This wonderful thing rates your attributes and assigns it points based on your current rank on the association" he continued, "Since you're not a member, the stone will only assign you from 0-100 as a form to rank your potential"

Richard then handed it to Ventus, he then held it in his left hand while looking at it.

"It's very to simple to use, all you've got to do is drip a drop of blood on it and channel your inner mana into it, it will use your blood to determine your physical condition and natural abilities, and it will use your mana to verify your mana affinity"

Ventus silently proceeded to do as instructed. He bit his thumb and let a drop fall on the gem, it then immediately became violet in color. Ventus then closed his eyes and started circulating his mana in the way his father taught him.

His mana circled through his whole body before he finally directed it all towards his left hand. The energy slowly filled the gem making it glow, gradually it began to shine and tremble.

"That's enough mana Ventus," Richard said.

Ventus opened his eyes and handed the shining violet gem to Richard.

"Now let's see the measurements"

Richard channeled his mana into the gem. It released a brilliant flash of light and then a hologram of a stone tablet formed, it contained a picture of his face and the following:

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Name: Ventus Astriss

Age: 14

Membership Status: Non-Member/No-Rank

Race: Human

Bloodline: Common

Intelligence/Comprehension: 70 Points | Rating: High

Physical Strenght: 40 Points | Rating: Low

World Mana Affinity: 80 Points | Rating: Superior

Primary Elemental Mana Affinity: Wind - 90 Points | Rating: Excellent

Secondary Elemental Mana Affinity: Earth - 70 Points | Rating: High

Tertiary Elemental Mana Affinity: Fire - 50 Points | Rating: Normal

Overall Potential Rating: 70 Points | Rating: High

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