Chapter 262

By the time the recruits could finally read their own names without squinting, Ludger decided they were ready to move from “letters” to “words.” The sound of them haltingly reciting the alphabet in unison had become part of the guild’s daily soundtrack—somewhere between endearing and mildly torturous.

But he couldn’t deny it: he’d gained experience from it.. When he finally had a moment to check his

Status Window

, a faint shimmer of blue text greeted him.

Class:

Teacher Lv. 20

Bonus per Level:

+3 INT, +3 DEX

Skills:

• [

Dissection of Knowledge

Lv.16]

• [

Student Insight

Lv.13]

• [

Guiding Words

Lv.13]

• [

Teacher Focus

Lv.06]

• [

Student Understanding

Lv.03]

Ludger scanned the new entries, raising an eyebrow. He’d expected his Overdrive classes to advance, not this one, but apparently even forced literacy lessons had their uses.

The first three skills were familiar.

Dissection of Knowledge

let him break concepts down into their simplest, most teachable parts.

Student Insight

helped him sense what each learner was missing, where confusion lingered, even if they stayed quiet. And

Guiding Words

was the subtle one: the way his tone or phrasing carried more weight, the kind that pushed someone past hesitation into comprehension.

The last two, though, were new.

[

Teacher Focus Lv.06

] it amplified concentration during instruction. It was as if the noise around him faded whenever he explained something, letting him track every detail of the lesson with surgical precision.

[

Student Understanding Lv.03

] was still a stranger still. When he looked at his recruits mid-lesson, he could

feel

what they understood, not through words, but through instinct. A subtle resonance, like the echo of mana between teacher and student. If someone grasped an idea, it flashed in his mind like a candle lighting in darkness. If not, he felt the void.

Ludger leaned back, studying the window a moment longer.

So this is what real teaching feels like,

he thought. Not just barking orders or drilling repetition, but transferring knowledge in a way that reshaped others.

He closed the interface and glanced at the recruits still hunched over their slates, tracing shaky letters with chalk. They were slower than he liked, clumsy, distracted—but they

were learning.

And for once, that was enough.

He couldn’t help a small smirk. “At this rate,” he muttered under his breath, “I’ll end up becoming a professor before a wind mage.”

The next morning, when Ludger entered the guildhall, he expected to find the recruits stretching or preparing for their morning run.

Instead, he found all five of them huddled around the guild’s notice board, squinting up at the parchment pinned in the center.

He stopped at the doorway, quietly observing. The sight was almost… endearing. They were pointing at the words, whispering fragments under their breath.

“See, that one’s his name,” Renn said, tracing a finger along the letters. “Lu-d…ger. Vice Guildmaster Ludger.”

Marie nodded, lips moving silently as she sounded it out. “Yeah… and that part says…

wind

something?”

“‘Wind… Mage,’” Bramm read carefully, proud of himself. “And then… uh… something about a

lesson

? And a

gold coin?

”

They were actually doing it, reading. The letters were shaky, the pronunciation uneven, but it was progress. Ludger almost smiled. Almost.

He cleared his throat. Five heads spun around at once.

“Morning,” he said dryly. “I see you’re putting your lessons to good use.”

“We’re trying!” Marie said quickly, grinning. “We can read most of it, but… what’s the rest mean?”

Ludger walked over and glanced at the board. His own posting was still there, the one offering one gold coin for a single wind magic lesson.

“It’s a job listing,” he explained. “I’m offering a reward for anyone who can teach me the basics of wind magic.”

Renn’s eyes widened. “Wait, so if

we

did that job, we’d get a gold coin?”

Ludger raised an eyebrow. “Only if you’re a wind mage.”

Marie exchanged looks with the others, then asked hopefully, “What if we just…

find

one for you?”

Bramm nodded eagerly. “Yeah! Like, send a letter or something! Does that count?”

Ludger folded his arms, expression flat. “That depends. Do you actually

know

a wind mage?”

Tali, who’d been quiet so far, suddenly raised her hand. “I know one!”

Ludger blinked. “You do?”

She nodded quickly, pigtails bouncing. “Yeah! But… she’s a little troublesome.”

He hesitated. “…How troublesome are we talking?”

Tali frowned in thought. “I don’t really know. But my parents always said she was troublesome.”

Ludger’s eyebrow twitched. “Your

parents

?”

“She’s my older sister!” Tali said brightly.

There was a pause. The kind of silence that existed right before a man realized he was about to regret his next decision.

Ludger exhaled slowly. “Of course she is.”

He should’ve ended it there, but the nagging thought wouldn’t leave him. He’d been refining his Overdrive attunements for weeks, earth, fire, water, but wind remained untouched. The gap bothered him more than he liked to admit.

He rubbed the bridge of his nose and finally said, “Fine. If she can teach me even the basics, I’ll pay her.”

Tali’s grin widened.

“And if

you

were the one who brought her here,” Ludger added, “I’ll pay you too. One gold coin each.”

The room erupted with excitement. The kids practically bounced where they stood.

Ludger turned toward his office, muttering under his breath, “This is going to end badly.”

Behind him, Tali was already shouting to the others, “See? I told you my sister’s good for something!”

Ludger didn’t look back. He was too busy wondering what kind of

troublesome

wind mage he’d just hired by proxy.

It took a full week for the letter’s results to reach Lionfang. The recruits were in the courtyard when the news, no, the

sight

, arrived.

Ludger was watching them finish their push-ups when he noticed the shift in atmosphere. People along the main road had begun to turn, whispering, a ripple of murmurs spreading through the market district. Even without using Seismic Sense, he could tell someone was drawing a lot of eyes.

When he looked toward the southern gate, he understood why. Striding up the road was a young woman, a striking one, even from a distance. Long silver-blonde hair whipped around her shoulders like a banner in the wind, and her cloak did nothing to hide the fact that her armor was more

suggestion

than protection. It was, technically, armor: polished plates, light enough to move freely, covering just enough to keep her legal. A bikini top reinforced with enchanted steel, short greaves, and a half-skirt that swayed with every step. The faint shimmer of wind mana clung to her like a perfume, bending the dust and sunlight around her as if the air itself enjoyed her presence.

She walked like she owned the horizon. And from the look on her face, the easy, confident smile, the faint tilt of her head as men and women alike turned to watch, she knew it. And she

liked

it.

Ludger’s eyes narrowed. He didn’t need any skill or intuition to feel all the warning bells go off in his head. Every single one. He had been through dungeons, ambushes, smuggling networks, and Imperial spies. None of them made his instincts scream as loudly as this woman did.

“Kids,” Ludger said quietly, still staring at the figure approaching the gate, “keep doing your push-ups.”

If the aura of attention around her wasn’t enough proof, the faint breeze that curled around her feet, dust swirling upward in lazy, controlled spirals, sealed it. She was the real thing. A genuine wind mage.

Unfortunately, she looked like trouble carved into human form.

Ludger sighed, muttering under his breath, “Of course she’s trouble . Of course she is.”

And as the wind mage sauntered through the gate with a confident grin, he could already feel the headache beginning to form.

The moment the woman entered the courtyard, the recruits forgot their push-ups entirely.

“Tali?” Renn whispered. “Is that—”

Before anyone could finish, Tali’s eyes went wide, and she bolted forward. “

Sister!

”

The woman turned, her smile softening instantly as the little girl crashed into her midsection. She caught her with one arm, laughing, the sound light and easy. “Tali, you grew again! What are they feeding you in this place?”

“Good food! And training!” Tali said proudly, squeezing her.

The wind mage chuckled, patting her sister’s back before letting go. She glanced around, spotting a few familiar faces among the other recruits. “Oh, you’re from the east side too, right?, and you, weren’t you the one who used to trip over buckets?”

Her tone was playful, teasing, and the kids laughed even as she ruffled their hair, one by one.

Then she straightened, putting a hand on her hip. “So,” she said, grin widening, “which one of you was brave enough to post a job asking me to

teach

wind magic?”

The kids pointed immediately. “Vice Guildmaster Ludger!”

Ludger, standing a few paces away with his usual unreadable stare, gave a small nod. “That would be me.”

Her gaze slid to him, curious first, then amused. She walked over with a measured, almost predatory grace, her cloak fluttering lightly around her legs. When she stopped in front of him, she tilted her head, smiling.

“So

you’re

the one who wants to be my student,” she said, voice warm with mischief. “I didn’t expect such a

cute

young man to be so ambitious. You’ve still got a bit of baby fat on your cheeks, but it’s fine, it looks good on you.”

Behind her, Tali blinked in confusion. “Baby fat?”

Ludger’s face didn’t move. His tone was perfectly level. “I’m eleven.”

The smile froze on her face.

“Ele—” she repeated, color draining slightly. Then she took a full step back, laughing nervously. “Ah. Right. Eleven. That’s… that’s fantastic. So young, so talented! Forget what I said a second ago, please.”

“Impossible,” Ludger replied flatly.

She groaned softly, covering her face with one hand. “At least don’t tell your parents, alright? I’d rather not have that story follow me home.”

Ludger’s expression didn’t change, but his voice carried a faint, dry edge. “Oh, I’m definitely telling my mother if she asks. It will be worse if anyone lies to her..”

The woman looked genuinely horrified. “Don’t. Please. I like being alive.”

He shrugged. “Then pray she doesn’t read lips.”

Tali blinked between them, clearly lost. “Why? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” the woman said quickly, waving a hand, still flustered. “Nothing at all, sweetie. Let’s just, let’s just get to the teaching part, yes?”

Ludger exhaled through his nose, watching her fuss over her cloak and pretend the last thirty seconds where she almost became the worst kind of criminal hadn’t happened.

At least she’s not a predator,

he thought grimly.

She’s a bitch, sure, but not a criminal.

In the grand hierarchy of his mentors, that actually put her in decent company. His cast of teachers was already a gallery of strange personalities: Aronia’s temper, Cor’s gruff mysticism, Selene’s sadistic humor, Yvar’s bureaucratic obsession, and Gaius’s occasional fits of philosophical insanity. But someone this…

colorful

was still a missing piece.

He rubbed the back of his neck. “Alright,” he said finally, tone flat. “Let’s focus. What’s the simplest trick you can teach me?”

The wind mage, still recovering from her near-death embarrassment—blinked, then perked up as the topic shifted. “Easiest? That’d be

Wind Wall.

A basic defensive spell. You shape air currents into a stable barrier—good for deflecting arrows, smoke, or weak spells. Simple in concept, miserable to maintain if you don’t sync with the element.”

Ludger nodded. “Then start the lesson immediately.”

Her grin returned, sly and confident again now that the conversation was safely professional. “Straight to business, huh? I like that. Fine, Vice Guildmaster, let’s see if that stone-faced attitude of yours can actually

move

air.”

She stretched her arms out, the faint shimmer of mana swirling around her fingertips. The courtyard breeze began to stir, spinning lazily into motion.

Ludger watched quietly, eyes narrowing, his mind already dissecting the flow, how she shaped it, where she anchored it, how her breathing timed with each flick of her wrist.

Finally, a spark of excitement stirred under his usual calm. Wind magic. Finally.

He set his feet in the dirt and said, “Show me.”

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