Chapter 56 56 - Sparring
"By the way, I\'m her daughter."
Nina dropped a bomb and continued walking. Gale didn\'t know what to be more impressed with; Nina\'s background or Lena\'s courage to bully the daughter of a sixth-stage mage.
They entered a huge mansion and went across the hall to the dining room; Nina made sure to arrive on time for breakfast; the chefs in the mansion were experts, and she missed the food there.
As soon as they entered the dining room, Gale felt a wave of heat washes over him. The mana pressured him, almost forcing him to stumble back out of the dining room while the heat made him feel like he was about to melt.
Gale, as a mage, coated himself with mana and resisted. He pushed his way through the pressure and entered the room. He was very close to being considered the mana\'s favorite, and he wouldn\'t let mere pressure beat him.
"Hmm, a mage? Lena told me you became a magician, which I could hardly believe. So you are Gale that used my daughter as a maid, that\'s courageous."
Gale smiled at the woman as if he didn\'t feel the extreme heat and didn\'t consider remaining silent; he judged from Lena\'s and Nina\'s attitudes that even if she goes a bit hard on him, she wouldn\'t actually injure him.
"That\'s me, I\'ve helped your daughter to make one of her dreams come true; she always thought the maid outfit looked cute."
Both Nina and Shana glared at him and the mana around Shana fluctuated for a moment, but Gale didn\'t back out.
"You\'re quite brave, but it\'s time to put you back into your place. Sit down and have breakfast with us, after it I will let you duel against mages of the same rank as you."
Shana wore a sadistic smile when she imagined Gale\'s pride getting crushed under the attacks of her disciples, although she had already promised Lena to train him.
Nina entered the room and sat down next to her mother, while Gale sat in front of the two women. His recently developed habit kicked in and he started to scrutinize Shana with his gaze.
Shana was as short as Nina, around 163 cm tall. Her hair was similarly white, but her eyes had a darker shade of pink, making them look more like red. She was quite beautiful by Gale\'s standards.
"Hello mom, I\'ve missed you so much!"
Nina said with a coquettish voice and held her mother\'s hand in her palm.
"Hmph, you left me for years to play around with a handsome boy. I admit your taste is good but is he better than me?"
"Don\'t act like that, if I came to visit you wouldn\'t let me go back. I lost a bet and had to keep my promise."
She rolled her eyes at Shana and started filling her plate with food from the table.
"Of course I wouldn\'t let you go back, you need to train. Now don\'t even think about having a rest until you advance to the Mage Phase."
An hour later Shana brought Nina and Gale outside to the training area, where her students gathered. She had 4 students excluding Nina, and all of them were there. Gale saw Lena meditating with closed eyes at the side while different types of mana fluctuated around her.
"Your big sister is a freak; she seems to always be in a state close to enlightenment and never faces any bottlenecks and difficulties."
Shana sighed and clapped her hands.
pαпdα`noνɐ1`сoМ "Everyone, come here."
All her disciples were females for the simple reason she only accepted female disciples. The three girls assembled in front of them while Lena ignored the call.
"Hi Nina, nice to see you\'re back. Who is the handsome boy?"
The girls immediately were interested when they sensed the young man was a mage; the only males in the mansion were the guards and servants who were only magicians, so their thirst was quite strong.
"He is Lena\'s little brother, Gale."
The magical words \'Lena\'s little brother\' made the girls instantly behave themselves and one girl who was too close even took a step back. Their fear of Lena was evident.
"Oh, hi Gale."
They still sneaked a few glances that they couldn\'t control, but overall, their self-control was praiseworthy.
"Girls, Gale is a young mage who didn\'t face any well-taught mages yet. I want you to help me make him more modest, who is willing to spar with him?"
Shana waited for the girls to volunteer yet nobody stepped forward.
"Huh? Since when do you need to think twice about sparring with someone?"
"Ahm, mom. He is Lena\'s brother."
Nina pointed out the problem; the girls feared getting beaten by Lena as revenge later. Everyone present knew she loved Gale and her overprotectiveness.
"The first girl to beat Gale will be banned from challenging Lena or accepting a challenge from her for the next year."
Shana was pissed off; she was acting prideful in front of Gale and those girls were a disgrace!
The girls\' expressions instantly lightened up and all three of them stepped forward at the same time, they might have been even slightly too eager to fight.
"Jay was first, the other two, step back."
The other two girls wore disappointed expressions as they went backward, giving Gale and Jay the space they needed to fight. Suddenly, they felt pressured, prompting them to look to their side and meet Lena\'s glare.
"Crap."
Gale and Jay stood 15 meters apart from each other and prepared for the fight.
"3… 2… 1… fight!"
Gale used his fire wisps spell to swarm over Jay, followed by a fireball that was supposed to explode with sparks. Since the Fire Witch was so confident, he didn\'t hold back at all.
However, Jay summoned a wall of fire and everything that went through it just burned and dissipated, including Gale\'s flames. The wall started barraging him with fireballs that exploded when getting near Gale, hitting him with shockwaves.
Gale retreated and called forth a cage of stone to protect himself, yet 3 fireballs were enough to make it collapse and he was sent flying, landing on his back painfully.