Magic's Return: I Can See The Spirits

"Ladies and Gentlemen, it may be a little underwhelming because of how one-sided it was, but that just shows how wide the difference between Young Master Vaan and other Mages is.

I am excited to see what the future holds!

You should know, that because of his Advanced Circles, Young Master's advantage over other Mages would only grow wider and wider as he advanced forward!

If Young Master is already so dominant right now, just imagine how strong he will be in the future!

Who knows? We might even see him fighting Mages above his level!

Hahaha! Don't mind me! This is just a new fan's fantasy!

Now please put your hands together for the winner of the Second Tier, the only son of our esteemed leader, Vaan Astra Vesta!

As they say, you just cannot hide your Bloodline! How could Lady Astra's son's name not shine as brightly as hers did?

The question is, could Young Master Vaan actually surpass Lady Astra? Now that would be interesting to watch!"

The announcer continued to speak, the more words she spoke, the more possibilities started building up in the audience's minds.

Someone who surpassed Lady Astra? She had already raised the bar so high but could Young Master Vaan actually do it?

It sounded absurd and most people simply shook their heads as they chuckled, after all, Astra was already a 4th Circle Mage when she was 20.

However, there were few who had a different opinion. They were mostly the young ones who hadn't witnessed Astra's Era and were deeply overwhelmed by Vaan's performance, they believed that if Vaan was this strong when he was just a 2nd Circle Mage, his future self would be a lot more dominant than before.

…

"Who is that girl?"

In another one of the reserved Boxes present in the Stadium, Draven Elysia Vesta sat on his sofa as he questioned.

"She is Melana Santner."

"Was she hired by Astra?"

"From what we know, she was hired by the people responsible for organizing the Elemental Clash." The servant who was attending him answered.

"Look into it, see if she has any connection to Astra, and if she doesn't…

You know what to do."

Draven spoke as his eyes turned cold.

"As you command, Lord Draven." The servant bowed his head.

…

"That woman…"

On the other side, hearing what the announcer just said, Astra narrowed her eyes as well.

Eliza appeared next to her and before she said anything, she nodded,

"It will be done."

"Good."

Astra nodded with a satisfied look on her face and continued to enjoy the tournament with a smile on her face.

Melana, who continued to announce the start of the Third Tier had no clue what just happened. She was just a clueless woman who knew nothing about the scary Vesta Politics and only wanted to do her best to keep the crowd's attention on the tournament and make this a special experience for them.

Unknowingly, her words, however, nearly became the cause of her death.

Her words compared Vaan to Astra, the current head of the Vesta Family, it may have not been a big deal before, however, after Vaan announced himself as the Prospective Heir, things changed.

Him being compared to the current head of the family was…

It was an indirect slap to other Prospective Heirs' and their factions' faces. Something that people like Draven and Risia would never accept.

If Astra hadn't interfered, Melana wouldn't even have known how she died.

"Anyways, what do you think of his performance?" Astra questioned as she glanced at her friend.

Eliza stared at her for a while and seeing the playful smile on her face, she could tell that Astra was trying to tease her, Eliza just turned towards the stage and,

"I investigated, he and his little group did a little act before the start of the Second Round, this was the reason why all the mages surrendered without even fighting."

"Hahaha~ That's creative, as expected of my son."

Astra laughed out loud.

"But comparing him to Lady Astra is simply absurd," Eliza spoke.

"I still remember the 15-year-old Lady Astra sitting amongst other 2nd Circle Mages, many mages tried to approach you, wanting to tease you, but you coldly ignored them all and the sheer dominance you showed that day made it so that no other mage, no matter the tier ever dared to tease you.

I will agree, for a 2nd Circle Mage, Young Master Vaan is strong. That much is obvious considering that he has the advantage of his Advanced Magic Circle, however, there will never be a day when I will put him above Lady Astra.

These people, including that announcer, they are simply ignorant.

I would know since…

…I faced Lady Astra myself."

Eliza spoke, recalling how she fought Astra in a one-on-one Battle 15 years ago when both of them were 6th Circle Mages. Eliza was a fairly talented woman who became a 6th Circle Mage when she was just 55, her speed was even comparable to Draven, a Named Descendent and one of the Prospective Heirs, many factions even tried to recruit her to their side, Astra's faction included.

In her arrogance, however, she rejected them all and then decided to challenge Astra, who, at that time, had pretty much dominated the Battle of Heirs and was called the Future Heir instead of the Prospective Heir.

That was when Eliza realized what sort of existence Astra was.

The battle ended in 10 seconds.

She could only cast two spells, heck, she hadn't even completed her second spell and she already found herself in a completely hopeless situation where no matter what she did, death was the only option. Eliza was forced to surrender.

Her arrogance was thoroughly crushed.

She saw an entirely different world, that was the day she finally realized why Astra was feared so much. She understood why even though Lord Draven had already become a 7th Circle Mage, the Vesta Family still waited for Astra to become an Advance Mage before they finally crowned her as the next Family Head.

"These are all childish battles, comparing someone to Lady Astra just on the basis of these is simply foolish."

Eliza spoke, she had sworn her loyalty to Astra because she acknowledged her strength, the fact that she was now being compared to a 20-year-old 2nd Circle Mage angered her, even if that Mage is her own child and Lady Astra herself couldn't stop smiling ever since her child was compared to her, Eliza still didn't like the absurd connection.

"Hahaha~ you are looking too deeply into this. I have said this before as well, you need to take things more calmly, Eliza, only then would you be able to improve further."

"Yes, Lady Astra." Eliza bowed her head.

"Now stop being so stuck up, sit down and enjoy the tournament,

The real fun has still not begun yet."

Astra spoke with a light smile on her face.

She and almost everyone in the Vesta Family knew that Vaan would be the winner of the Second Tier, what others didn't know, however, was a certain timid woman who was prepared to take everyone by storm.

Eliza turned silent, she then sat on the sofa next to Astra and shifted her attention to the tournament.

…

"Heh, you are here this year as well ha, old man."

A Young Man spoke up as he walked towards another, aged man.

"I would keep coming here till I win." The aged man replied.

"Aren't you ashamed to be playing around with children?" The Young Man snorted.

"Say that when you defeat me. There is no Age Limit in the Elemental Clash for a reason." The aged man replied shamelessly.

"Still, for a 70-year-old man like you to be standing together with us, it has to be embarrassing as hell, no?"

"Don't think that I don't know, Raman. Do you think dying your hair would hide your real age? How shameless one must be to act like that when you yourself are 55 this year?"

"55 is still fine!

And I do not dye my hair!" Raman retorted, clearly sounding annoyed.

"We have a 21-year-old girl here with us and you still dare to say 55 is young?" the aged man chuckled.

Hearing those words, Raman turned towards a certain red-haired girl who was sitting in the corner.

"We don't talk about her…

She is the exception here, not us."

He spoke.

Her talent was simply too absurd.

"Hahaha~ you are right about that." The aged man laughed.

"As amazing as she is… her performance in the Elemental Clash hasn't been that impressive," Raman commented.

"Does it even matter? So what if she can't win? She is a polite girl who respects everyone." The aged man spoke, then, he shook his head and sighed.

"If only she wasn't already engaged, I would have asked her hand for my Grandson, it is a pity…"

"Huh? What did you say? You think you or that stupid grandson of yours deserves someone like her?" Suddenly, the aged man heard a voice.

He turned around and his face turned sour when he saw Elric walking towards him.

"Do you have a death wish, old man?"

"…" The man didn't reply.

"Tsk, and you aim to win the tournament, wishful thinking." Seeing that the man couldn't even answer him anymore, Elric just snorted.

Then, a bright smile appeared on his face and he walked towards Elara.

"Elara, how have you been? Did you miss me? I missed talking to you."

He spoke as he sat next to Elara and held her hands.