TBATE - CHANGING FATE

Chapter 7 - The Director

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CYNTHIA GOODSKY POV:

The morning was crisp and clear, the sun beaming lightly down on me; not too hot nor cold. Walking up the Helstea manor's steps, I was greeted by Vincent who was standing outside the front entrance waiting for me.

"Thank you very much for coming on such short notice Director Goodsky," he said while bowing politely, "I apologise for taking time out of your day, but I believe the child I was discussing with you yesterday is someone you would like to meet."

"Nonsense Vincent, you're a good friend of mine and a large contributor to the academy so of course I would listen to what you had to say," I said while gesturing for him to take a more comfortable stance.

"Also, after hearing what you had to say about the wonder-boy I became... curious to say the least. You didn't say much about him after all, except that he was terrifyingly strong."

Ushering for me to follow him through the manor and into the backyard, I was met with the Leywin family that I heard about from Vincent, along with their son.

Fixing my gaze on the boy, I assessed his mana core.

"Goodness me... you're already at the light red core stage!?" I exclaimed, my eyes widening in surprise. The fact that a child who was almost eight years old and already achieved this stage would automatically place him as a top-priority student, an honour that only the children of royalty could receive.

Turning my gaze from him, I settled my eyes on the mana beast that was standing next to him. Its yellow and black eyes had a hint of deep intelligence, and although I had never seen this species it was obviously at the minimum an A class beast.

After everyone took their seats, except Arthur and I, we positioned ourselves roughly ten meters from each other.

"Arthur Leywin, are you prepared to begin? I hope you don't disappoint me, as I have high hopes for you."

Signalling the start of the match, he stomped his foot onto the tiled ground and several large stones emerged from underneath him, kicking them towards me.

'An earth augmenter it seems... judging by expression this is most likely him testing me' I pondered while conjuring a wind barrier around me, destroying the stones which were coming towards me at a frightening speed.

Raising my brow, I taunted the boy to see if he had any other tricks up his sleeve. "Surely this mustn't be all you can do?"

Suddenly, he willed a gust of wind onto his feet, propelling his body towards me.

'A dual augmenter!? No wonder Vincent wanted me to meet this Arthur boy!'

Waiting to see how he would get past my barrier; I saw that he already covered his right fist with a tornado spiralling at an imperceivable speed.

Smashing his fist into the barrier and destroying it, the collision of our spells created a large gust of wind knocking over the Helstea and Leywin families.

Finishing my next move before I let the child regain his footing, I conjured several small columns of twisters and fired them towards him.

I expected the boy to conjure another ball of wind around him – much like before – to deflect my attack, but what came next was... unbelievable.

Remaining still, Arthur conjured four small spheres of water – the same number as my twisters – and aimed them into my spell.

'A water spell as well!? Is this child a triple-augmenter! It's not a surprise that Vincent called this little monster terrifyingly strong! Fortunately it seems he lacks experience, as that measly amount of water would have no effect on my spell.'

Snapping myself into focus, I watched as he used the water as a catalyst to suddenly freeze my tornadoes into spirals of ice columns, stopping them in their tracks.

"Im-impossible, d-deviant magic as well!?" I sputtered out, unable to process what I just witnessed. Noticing however that the child was beginning to look exhausted, I fired off my final spell. A condensed ball of wind formed at the tip of my finger, aiming it towards him. Shooting it at a speed faster than the eye could see, I thought that if he could dodge this then it would be my loss.

However, it seemed that I had underestimated the intelligence of this child. I could see that the boy followed my spell – as if it were frozen – but decided not to dodge it, and took it straight to his chest. Watching him tumble back several meters, I realised that I had fallen into his trap.

'He never took our match seriously... but if he did defeat me here I would lose face as the headmaster of Xyrus Academy, so he pretended to lose, even going so far as to fake exhaustion.' I noted to myself, wondering what the true extent of this child's abilities truly were.

Watching him get back up on his feet, I decided to conclude our battle.

"That should be enough for a demonstration of your abilities Arthur Leywin... to say it was sufficient is putting it lightly" I muttered, studying the boy with a deep interest.

Making my way towards him, I conjured a sound barrier around the two of us so our conversation couldn't be heard.

"Tell me Arthur... was that the full extent of your abilities?" I asked intriguingly.

"No it wasn't Director Goodsky" he said, brushing off the dirt that was stuck to his clothes. "I'm also able to use fire attribute spells, and am capable of all human deviant branches of magic except sound."

Staring at the child with wide eyes, I stumbled onto the ground unable to stand any longer. "Arthur, if I may repeat, you are a quadra elemental capable of controlling all higher elements except sound correct?"

"Correct" he immediately answered, offering his hand to pull me off the ground.

Taking his hand, I got up and asked him to demonstrate. 'Even if the boy was lying, I would do anything to make him join my academy.'

Following my order, he conjured a red ball of flame in his left hand, and encased his right with a layer of electricity. Suddenly, the gravity around me began to fluctuate and compress my body; although only slightly.

Watching this sight, I couldn't help but laugh loudly.

'A SEVEN-YEAR-OLD CHILD IS CAPABLE OF USING ALL FORMS OF MAGIC, INCLUDING HIGHER ELEMENTS!' I shouted inwards, covering my mouth while chuckling loudly.

Before I could close the barrier, he spoke up.

"Director Goodsky, the reason I showed you my strength is because I have a favour to ask of you," he said while his golden eyes pierced into mine. "In three years' time, I want to become a professor at your academy as well as a student, and I wish to attend any class of my choosing regardless of year level requirements."

Shaking his hand, I agreed immediately. No matter what conditions he gave, even if he wanted to become the director in my stead, I would have agreed.

'If I maintain a positive relationship with him and help him grow then maybe... just maybe... Dicathen can be saved from... them.'

Cancelling the barrier, I explained to his family and the Helsteas that Arthur will be attending the academy with tuition covered. Seeing him hugging his family, I prepared myself to leave as I had other matters to attend to, but Arthur offered to walk me to the front entrance.

Before I walked down the steps of the manor however, he came closer to me and whispered quietly to ensure no one else could hear what he had to say. As I stood there frozen in fear, he closed the metal door after telling me his message...

"I will deal with Alacrya."

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Word count: 1281

Well this was shorter than usual, but I wanted to dedicate an entire chapter from the perspective of Director Goodsky, so this was pretty fun writing. Also, the last sentence is chilling isn't it! Imagine a seven-year-old telling you they would deal with an entire continent filled with terrifyingly strong soldiers! Look forward to the next chapter as Tess will be returning!! Anyways, once again if there are any mistakes I made while writing feel free to point them out and give advice, if you enjoyed feel free to vote, and I'll see y'all later!