"I cannot do that, Father.
I need to become the strongest Mage there is.
How else am I going to lead the Vesta Family?"
Vaan spoke with a confident smile on his face.
A wry smile appeared on Orion's face,
"So you wish to follow your mother's footsteps huh…"
It was a pity. Orion was sure that if Vaan agreed, he would have turned this man into the strongest swordsman in the entire world, Vaan's potential was just as high.
Losing someone like Vaan because he wants to learn Magic… Orion couldn't express just how disappointed he was.
"Tsk, if only you could move while casting a spell. Magic is just too restrictive."
Orion complained out loud, however,
"What…?"
Vaan spoke up.
"Hmm?" Orion frowned.
"What did you say just now?"
"I said Magic is just too restrictive and it is not a good thing."
"No, you said something before that, about me being able to move while casting a spell."
"Well you mages can't move much while casting magic now, can you? You all need to concentrate on drawing the Magic Patterns.
I just said that if you could move, I would have trained you accordingly and turned you into a Mage who can fight in close combat battles.
Heh, just thinking about it is scary."
Orion chuckled, obviously, he knew something like that was impossible.
Everyone was supposed to have a weakness, for swordsmen, it was the lack of firepower, and for mages, it was the lack of movability and ability to defend themselves.
A Mage who could fight in close combat battles, just that concept itself was flawed. A being with no weakness, a being like that cannot exist.
"I can."
"Huh?"
"I can move while casting a spell."
While Orion was thinking all this, Vaan spoke up.
Orion however, shook his head,
"I am not talking about stepping aside, crouching down, or other minimal movements like that, many experienced mages who have practiced their spells to the limit can do that.
It is good that you can do that however that is not what I was talking abo-"
"I am not talking about those little movements either, I can move just like I normally do while I am casting my spells, heck I can even spar with you if you want."
Vaan spoke as he looked into his father's eyes with a confident look on his face.
"…"
Orion turned silent.
"Vaan, your joke isn't funny."
"I have an incredible comic timing, there is no way my jokes aren't funny.
You aren't laughing because this time, I am not joking.
I would have shown it to you if my body could move."
Vaan replied, Orion stared at his son for a while, then, he walked towards Vaan, placed his hand on his back, and suddenly, Vaan's expression changed.
His tired body was healing.
'Wait, Heal wasn't supposed to work on exhaustion, no wait, he is a Swordsman, he shouldn't even know how to cast Heal.'
Vaan couldn't understand what was happening, however, before he could ask something, Orion stepped away, then, with a solemn look on his face, he looked into his eyes and,
"Show me what you just said and remember,
If you cannot do it,
Your next training session won't be something you should be looking forward to."
Orion warned.
Vaan blinked a few times, then, he stood up.
His eyes fell on the two little spirits who had already appeared beside him and were looking at him with cheerful smiles on their faces,
Seeing them, a smile appeared on Vaan's face as well,
2 Magic Circles appeared in front of him, then, he glanced at his father and,
"What do you want me to do?"
"Attack me, using spells and your fists at the same time."
Orion spoke.
Vaan glanced at Flamey, the little Spirit nodded, her eyes shining in intelligence. Then, Vaan rushed towards Orion, wanting to punch him.
"!!!"
Orion's expression changed.
From his vision, he just saw his son rushing towards him, while the Magic Circle he had summoned was being filled with Magic Patterns!
Orion dodged Vaan's punch at the last second, Vaan, as if he had already expected it, tried to aim for Orion's leg, Orion stepped back, even now, dodging Vaan's attacks was something effortless for him, however, this time, his expression wasn't calm as before.
Of course, Vaan noticed that and he couldn't help but smile.
His eyes fell on Flamey who had taken over his Mana control and was working on casting spell while he focused on attacking his father.
*Flicker*
Soon, a fireball was shot towards Orion, since the distance between them wasn't much, Orion had no way to dodge. In the end, Orion was forced to take the attack head-on.
*BOOOM*
An explosion was heard, if it were a normal scenario, Vaan would have been worried about his father, however, Vaan knew Orion wasn't a normal man either.
And just as he thought, as the smoke cleared up, Orion stood tall with not even a single burned mark on his entire body.
Vaan couldn't hurt him but he wasn't disappointed.
The look on his father's face, that alone was enough to put a smile on his face.
"Should I continue?" Vaan questioned with a slightly proud smile on his face.
"That is enough."
Orion ordered.
Then, he glanced at his son and,
"You can look forward to tomorrow's training."
There was a smile on Orion's face, Vaan however, didn't like that smile.
For some reason, he felt that 'look forward to tomorrow's training' was worse than 'your next training won't be something you should look forward to'.
However, Vaan knew that whatever his father was thinking was beneficial for him. Just from his expression alone, Vaan could tell something amazing was going to happen soon, however, Vaan had one doubt,
"Father."
He called out.
"You want me to become a Mage who could fight close-distance combat, correct?"
"It has not been done before, however, with your ability, it is possible.
Vaan Astra Vesta, I will turn you into a Mage that the entire world fears."
"But… if I purposefully close distance, won't it just harm me? If the enemy is a Mage, he would have an easier time targeting me since I would have less time to dodge or defend against his attack as for a Swordman, that's even worse since no matter how much I train, a mage defeating a Swordsman in a close combat battle is simply impossible."
When Vaan realized that Flamey could cast spells in his stead, his first thought was something similar to Orion, however, after researching a little, he realized that what he was thinking was simply impossible.
Like Mages had Mana, Swordsman worked with an Energy called Aura.
Aura made their body stronger, to the point where it exceeded human limits. Even slicing up mountains was possible.
No matter how much he trained, defeating someone as in human in a close distance combat was not possible. His Body wouldn't be able to hold up.
Of course, Vaan also thought of training Aura, however, Mana and Aura couldn't co-exist.
The two energies repelled each other to the point that training together would simply destroy ones' body.
Therefore, Vaan couldn't understand, if he couldn't use Aura, how was he supposed to face those swordsmen?
Orion understood what his son was worried about, then, he threw a crystal towards Vaan.
Vaan frowned as he caught the stone,
"What is it, an Elemental Stone?" He questioned.
"It's a Strength Stone."
"A Strength Stone…?" Vaan frowned in confusion.
"Activate it like you use an Instant Spell," Orion instructed, Vaan did as he was told and soon, he felt endless strength coursing through his body.
His expression changed.
This strength, it was even higher than Christopher's peak. Right now, Vaan felt like he could destroy a huge boulder with just a single punch.
This strange feeling… Vaan felt like he would get addicted.
"A Strength Stone temporarily increases the strength when used, the purer the Stone, the stronger the effects would be. Just like this, there are Speed Stones, Stamina Stones, and more,
You cannot use Aura, however, with these stones and the techniques I teach you, fighting against Aura users won't be difficult."
Orion explained.
"These Stones… they won't be cheap…" Vaan commented.
Something this amazing couldn't possibly be cheap.
"They are not."
Orion nodded in agreement. Then, a smile appeared on his face and,
"But since when do you have to worry about things like that?
I will be the one training you,
Leave the cost to me and just focus on the training,
Is that clear?"
Vaan couldn't help but smile.
'Heh, being filthy rich feels great.'
"Anyways, you have pushed your body too much today, go and rest," Orion ordered.
Vaan nodded. The Father and Son then left Astra's Magic Training Room, Vaan then walked towards his room and then,
His eyes fell on Aldric, who was waiting for him in front of his room.
"Young Master Vaan." Aldric bowed his head.
Vaan nodded, "What are you doing here?" He questioned.
"The letter you were talking about, it came earlier than expected."
Hearing those words, Vaan's lips curled into a smirk, "Is that so…?"
"Yes, Lady Seraphina wishes to meet you."
