Stunning Edge

Chapter 6: Doubting, Probing

At nightfall, the Duke's castle was still bright, and it wasn't just the Duke's. All the houses of wealthy families of the capital had their homes brightly lit. At night, only the commoners who couldn't afford candles lived in darkness.

In her bedroom, Claire lay on the bed. She played around with a fireball on her fingertips. Claire thought back to when Gordan warned her in the study. You must conceal this outrageous talent and not display your power in front of others unless it's truly an emergency. Especially the Temple of Light, you must definitely not let them know. When you test for the Institute, bear in mind you need to hold back. When Claire suggested couldn't she not go to the Institute and just learn from Emery, Gordan refused intensely. It was very obvious he didn't believe Emery was good enough to be Claire's teacher.

"The only person who can be your teacher is that person. But in order to find him, you must go to the Institute. Once you become his disciple, then you don't need to worry about the Temple of Light any more." After saying these mysterious words, Gordan stopped talking. He didn't even mention who the person was. But, it was evident that once Claire became that person's disciple, then the Temple of Light would have no chance at taking her away.

Sure enough, there was always conflict between the Royal and Divine powers. Claire extinguished the small fireball in her hand. She remembered the spell that Emery taught her the night before - fire shield. Evidently, the spell wasn't widely known. It must be Emery's own magic, his cherished asset, but he had taught it to Claire selflessly. By making the fire elements cluster around the body, one would form a shield to protect from attacks. The only problem was that Claire didn't seem to be able to form a shield yet. Claire remembered very clearly that Emery said you could not be too impatient. After trying a few more times, Claire gave up temporarily. The difference between magicians and regular people were that regular people were unable to stay awake for too long without feeling fatigued, while magicians could recover both their magic power and body strength through meditating. Claire crossed her legs and sat up and started to meditate. She began to capture and store the element into her body unceasingly. Three hours later, Claire opened her eyes feeling very refreshed. It was much better than sleeping for three hours.

Three days later, Claire passed the Institute's test while holding back some of her power. She could now study at the Sunrise Institute. And Jean, being her guardian knight, had to be beside her at all times in order to protect her. But Jean was already a grand warrior and couldn't enter the institute as a student, so he could only follow secretly.

The letters Sunrise Institute stood out on the grand door. The arrogant looking letters lit up whenever it got dark or at night time. Obviously, there was some kind of spell.

"Miss, I will protect you in secret," Jean said quietly when Claire entered the gate. Then he disappeared.

Once Claire picked up her student card, she followed a teacher to the Fire classroom. As soon as she walked in, she felt odd gazes from everyone, and at the very back she saw a curious and puzzled stare. It was the second prince Nancy. He was also part of the Fire class?

"Today we have a new classmate, Claire Hill. So today let's review the basics again." Standing on the dais was the teacher, Emily, a gentle middle aged woman who was the Fire class instructor. In order to help Claire catch up, the instructor reviewed the basics.

"Claire, you can sit wherever you want." Emily of course knew the girl's identity and was very polite.

"Thank you teacher." Claire lightly nodded and after expressing her thanks, walked to the empty seats in the back.

Although Claire felt their strange gazes, she ignored them and walked straight to the back and listened to Emily's teachings. It was pretty close to what the book wrote. Nancy, sitting nearby, occasionally sent probing looks.