Age 8—the day after the revelation of Levy's innate circulation technique.
Levy was sleeping peacefully.
"...L..e...v...y..."
'If this is some prophetic nonsense at dawn, I'm ignoring it,' Lin Feng grumbled internally.
"...Le...vy...."
Levy started opening his eyes.
"LEVY!"
"Ah! Yes?" Levy jolted awake.
Vladimir stood beside his bed, arms folded.
"Grandpa Vlad?" Levy blinked sleepily.
"Wake up you brat! Let's go!" Vladimir gestured outside.
'Right,' Lin Feng recalled. 'The old monster said he'd start formal instruction.'
"Brace yourself," Vladimir smirked. "I will not go easy on you. Go wash up and meet me at the Courtyard."
Levy waved him off with a smile.
"Status open."
[Magic Mastery System]
Name: Levy Tobias Morozov
Physique: 9.26 → 9.28
Mana: 23.129 → 23.134
Elemental Nature: Wind (S-rank), Lightning (C-rank)
Magic Skills:
Active Skills:
> Wind Gale Palm (E-rank)
Acquired Techniques: Asha Circulation Method
'Right… I never asked about elemental nature ranks,' Levy muttered while washing his face.
------------------------------
Dressing up in a white loose, flowy robe, with blue and gold ornaments on the lining and hem of the clothes.
Walking towards the courtyard, he saw Vladimir standing with his hands behind his back, "Is this really necessary?" he asked.
"It helps in resonating with the wind easier." Vladimir replied.
"...I see."
Vladimir faced Levy, "for now, a change of scenery is needed."
Wind blew Levy away upwards. while Vladimir muttered some undecipherable words, too fast for the human ears to hear and understand, "@#$^*!"
Then Vladimir was walking on air.
'Show-off,' Lin Feng muttered.
"WHAT!?", obviously Levy was bewildered.
Vladimir calmly spoke, "Now, listen to m-"
"AHHHHHHHH!" But Levy had another reaction.
"Silence." Vladimir uttered.
Levy's scream vanished instantly.
His mouth moved.
No sound.
"Stop panicking for goodness sake, you wish to become a mage, correct?"
Levy swallowed and nodded.
"Good. Do not use mana. Do not resist. Simply feel the breeze."
Vladimir's voice lowered.
"Understand its weight. Its direction. Its indifference."
Then he left Levy suspended hundreds of meters above ground.
'If he fails, he'll truly become one with nature,' Lin Feng thought. 'Scattered across the field.'
------------------------------
At school.
"What happened?"
"Is he getting into fights?"
Whisphers about wherever Levy went couldn't be avoided.
------------------------------
At Lin Feng's house.
"...are you doing okay?" Lin Feng, his childhood friend asked.
"Barely." Levy answered meekly.
"It's been a while since you last went to visit... then you showed up full of bruises." Lin Feng sighed. "I'll get some ice."
"Thanks..." Levy answered.
------------------------------
At the school gym.
"Coach, Levy told me to tell you he wouldn't be able to attend practice for a while."
"Right, his parents also talked to me about it." The coach answered.
"Is he okay?"
"It was something about his family business or somethin-"
"Hey! Stop slacking off! Get to your positions!"
------------------------------
The sixth day.
"You are still resisting," Vladimir said coldly.
"I'm not trying to!"
"You are." Levy grunted, "You never even told me what this training is for!"
"Did I?" Vladimir genuinely looked confused.
'Right, he didn't.' Lin Feng also forgot.
"Well, basically the mana in your mana pool is that of unattributed mana, it hasn't unergone transmutation to fit wind magic." Vladimir explained.
He vanished into the clouds again.
'THAT'S ALL?!' Levy wide eyed at Vladimir's lackluster explanation.
'Well, it's normal to fail. After all, not everyone's a genius like me.' Vladimir mused.
Levy fell.
Wind roared in his ears.
'But transmutation huh?' Levy recalled, 'that's what I needed for the wind gale palm right?'
Then the wind hitting his face became even stronger as he continued to descend.
'...Well, grandpa Vlad will come to soften my fall anyways, no need to worry about it I guess...' Levy thought inwardly as he closed his eyes and fell downwards at his own accord.
'Hoh? His mana pool is starting to resonate.' Vladimir said as he peered through the clouds.
His mind replayed the words.
Do not use mana.Do not resist.Be one with it.
"…One with the wind…" Levy muttered.
"What!?" Vladimir shouted with an outburst of mana."
Unbeknownst to Levy, something occured. His mana and body came to attune with the wind.
As if something once connected and was lost finally found its way back.
Opening his eyes, Levy realized that the sky had stopped moving.
Was it the sky or was it Levy himself?
'...what?' He questioned.
'Ahhh... grandpa Vlad must've broken my fall... I failed once again again.' He sighed, 'but it doesn't hurt as much this time... have I gotten used to it?'
Lin Feng inside, smirked.
Vladimir's confused face appeared upside down in his view.
"This is really weird..." Vladimir uttered, "still, how long do you intend to remain like that?"
"Well, you broke my fall again didn't you grandpa Vlad?"
"I didn't." Vladimir simply answered.
"What're you talking about?" Levy dismissed him.
If things were as usual, he would be a few inches away from actually hitting the ground, separated by gust of wind.
Levy looked towards the side, 'It's not there...'
The field of grass in his peripheral field of vision that should be there wasn't there.
Finally, he looked down.
He was a hundred or so meter high.
"...eh?"
Then he once again started to fall but this time slower.
Vladimir who was now diving head down looking at Levy asked, "You've already succeeded in resonating with the wind, but at the same time managed to stay afloat using the raw wind mana..." Vladimir continued, "I have no idea how you managed to attain, attunement."
"I'm sure something came to you, phrases, hand signs, or a sequence of words?"
Levy started to concentrate, remembering earlier.
'What did I do earlier? How did I do it? Let's run it back...' Closing his eyes, Levy tried recalling his actions from earlier.
Vladimir looked at their distance from the ground, 'This kid... just what is he?' he expressed his excitement.
'The kid leapt through stages to make progress. If he did it once, he'll be able to do it again.'
He was about to break Levy's fall when he was going to cast his spell but-
"One with the wind!" Levy opened his eyes, and his purplish-like eyes started to turn completely blue.
Then he stopped 2 meters before hitting the grassy field, floating in the air.
'That attunement... that's a first...' Lin Feng raced through his memories of life cycles.
"...what is that?" Vladimir voiced in a confused tone.
"D-did I do good grandpa Vlad?" Levy asked Vladimir, while struggling to float upright.
"Well, a bit lacking for someone I had been personally training, but good enough I guess."
'...how did he do it??? I knew this kid had talent, but that's a bit much! Even I whos one of the family's greatest talent resonated with the wind after a whole month! He also achieved attunement at his level!' Vladimir was stunned deep inside.
'...this geezer is full shit, just admit the kid is talented.' Lin Feng spoke bored.
"Although still a bit clumsy, you're really floating in the air..." Vladimir looked at Levy with interest.
"Krgh!" Levy was struggling controlling his movements in the air.
"I know how it feels, it's as if suddenly growing a pair of new legs. Your balance should feel really off, you'll get used to it soon."
Vladimir was standing on air, while Levy was spinning around and about as if drunk.
He was looking Levy, inspecting him.
"What's wrong grandpa Vlad?" Levy asked.
"I was merely getting you resonated with the wind, but you managed to reach attunement..." Vladimir changed the subject as he stood back up on the ground.
"What're you talking about?" Levy asked.
"Well magic isn't just all about manipulating raw mana into your liking, nor is it all about combining an element into your mana, there's also what we call attunement." Vladimir explained.
"When we attain attunement, we are able to do things that aren't usually possible with magic. These are innate skills, that cannot be comprehended. Till this day, there are no plausible explanations for attunements." Vladimir continued.
Looking at Levy full of question marks, he coughed.
"Flying Wind Magic is a magic only Great Mages, and Archmages can do. You do know the distinctions right?" Vladimir asked Levy.
"Yes! There are 5 ranks of mages according to modern magic theory; Rookie, Caster, Master mage, Great mage, Archmage."
"...but if only Great Mages and Archmages can use Flying Wind Magic, how was I able to float earlier?" Levy asked.
"Well, there's a difference between Flying, and Floating. What you did earlier was Floating." Vladimir clarified.
"Oh..." Levy was a bit dissapointed.
"...however, floating is a stage below flying, and only a master mage and above could do that, but to be able to do that despite not even being officially a rookie cannot be explained by common sense."
"Plus when I'm flying, I'm spending mana to control the wind around me, that's flying wind magic..." He trailed off, "Unlike you who's floating just by your will."
"I still don't get it?" Levy raised his concern.
"Basically, you have a type of ability that cannot be measured by common sense." Vladimir explained.
"Right now, what I can understand from your attunement is that you are able to float without spending any mana at all." He guessed as he looked at the mana around them.
"I see... is that useful?" Levy asked.
"For aerial battles, it's a godlike ability." Vladimir answered.
"I see... then what's grandpa Vlad's attunement?" Levy asked.
Vladimir was a bit uncomfortable with the question, "Levy, we don't usually ask a mage's attunement." "But since you asked, I'll tell you."
"My attunement-"
"Grand Elder!!" A voice broke through the whole estate.
It was a familiar voice. It was Wilson.
He came running, panting.
"What is it?" Vladimir asked, a bit of annoyance in his tone.
"I-It's the 7-stars... the Red Dragon has called for a meeting, and he requested for master's attendance..." Wilson said as he kept panting.
"That's a hassle, just make up some excuse!" Vladimir answered.
"I have yet to deliver the message to them..."
Wilson fidgeted for a bit.
Vladimir noticing this asked, "this is unlike you, what else do you have to say?"
"The Red Dragon has issued it as an order under his name, so that no one will be able to refuse him..." Wilson trailed off.
"!!"
Vladimir's expression turned sour at that moment.
"These brats!" He shouted, and in a flicker of a second, a huge outburst of wind blew over them.
The mana around them dissipated for a second.
Lisa dashed in from who knows where with a serious look on her face, looking around, she could only see Vladimir, Levy, and Wilson.
"What was that?! I clearly felt an unusual amount of mana!"
Vladimir exhaled sharply.
"You've grown dull, how could you fail to remember my mana signature!" Vladimir retorted.
He ruffled Levy's hair and said, "brat, come with me, real life situations are much better than words."
"Huh?" Lisa blurted out, "Where are you taking him?"
"Just think of it as a field trip." Vladimir said. "Plus, with me. What's the worst that could happen?"
"He's right young miss." Wilson replied to Lisa's worries.
Without further words, Vladimir flew with Levy.
Just like that, they disappeared like the wind.
"Status open." Levy muttered as he was carried by Vladimir in his right hand.
[Magic Mastery System]
Name: Levy Tobias Morozov
Physique: 9.39 → 9.49
Mana: 23.154 → 23.179
Elemental Nature: Wind (S-rank), Lightning (C-rank)
Magic Skills:
Active Skills:
> Wind Gale Palm (E-rank)⁺
Passive Skills:
> One With The Wind (S-rank)⁺
Acquired Techniques: Asha Circulation Method
"Right! Grandpa Vlad!" Levy remembered.
"What?" Vladimir said.
"Are there ranks into elemental nature?" Levy asked.
"Ranks?" Vladimir fell silent for a second, "Well, there should be. Since not all mages with wind elemental nature are of the same level, so it's not far off to say there could be ranks."
"...I see" Levy nodded.
And so they kept flying and soaring through the clouds.