Chapter 264

The dust in front of him stirred, swirling in tight, circular ribbons. The breeze compressed against itself, forming a faint distortion, like heat haze, but sharper.

A thin wall of wind shimmered into existence, bending the light just enough to be seen. It hummed softly, the air vibrating at the edge of stability. Ludger could feel every fluctuation—the delicate balance between his mana and the element’s natural movement.

One wrong push and it would scatter. One moment of hesitation and it would collapse.

He maintained it for a few heartbeats longer, then slowly eased his mana back. The wall dissipated in a whisper, leaving only the faint scent of dust and ozone behind.

Ludger opened his eyes. The courtyard was still. His hair shifted slightly in the leftover current.

“Not obedience,” he murmured. “Cooperation.”

He allowed himself a small, rare smile. For the first time, he’d truly felt what Kaela meant. The air wasn’t his servant, it was his

ally.

A faint tone echoed in Ludger’s mind—the crystalline

ping

of a system alert he’d been expecting. His eyes opened just as the blue text flickered to life before him.

[New Class Unlocked: Wind Enchanter Lv. 1]

Bonus per Level:

+3 DEX, +3 INT, +3 PER

Skill Acquired:

[

Wind Wall Lv. 1

]

Can redirect attacks mid-attack or deflect incoming projectiles. Defense powers scales with Dexterity and Intelligence. Continuous cost: 10 mana per second.

Ludger stared at the notification, the faint hum of wind still brushing against his skin. The name fit perfectly.

Wind Enchanter.

It wasn’t about brute control, it was about

enchanting,

weaving wind into movement, letting it flow through him instead of around him.

He understood instantly why the system had labeled it that way. Kaela didn’t fight

against

the air; she

wove

with it. Every step, every flick of her wrist carried the wind’s rhythm. She wasn’t a wind mage in the classical sense, she was a fighter who

enchanted the wind

herself with the element’s motion.

He extended his hand again, testing the new flow. The mana responded faster this time, light and agile, sliding along his arm like a living current. A faint blue shimmer traced his fingertips, pressure without weight, motion without strain.

Ludger exhaled slowly. The air followed his breath, bending in a smooth arc before dissipating into nothing.

“Wind Enchanter,” he murmured. “Yeah… that makes sense.”

The sound of footsteps and chatter broke through the calm of the courtyard. Ludger turned just in time to see his recruits jogging back from their laps—sweaty, loud, and already talking over each other.

They froze the moment they saw the faint shimmer of air still rippling around him.

For a full heartbeat, they just stared. Then all five of them exploded at once.

“You did it already?!”

“How—what—how long did that take?!”

“Can you teach us next?!”

“Wait—was that the

Wind Wall

thing?!”

“Are you part wind now?!”

The words mashed together into one breathless wall of sound.

Ludger blinked, then rubbed the bridge of his nose. “...Breathe. One at a time.”

That didn’t work. They kept talking, voices tripping over each other, their excitement so genuine it almost felt like an ambush.

He let them go on for a few seconds before letting out a long sigh and raising his hand. “Enough. Back to training.”

There was a collective groan of protest, but they obeyed, shuffling off to resume their push-ups and squats with reluctant energy.

As they went, Ludger noticed Kaela watching him from the other side of the yard, her usual teasing grin nowhere to be seen. Her arms were crossed, eyes narrowed, not in anger, but disbelief.

When he met her gaze, she spoke first. “I’d heard rumors,” she said slowly, “but I didn’t think you’d actually be this insane.”

Ludger tilted his head slightly. “Didn’t you also hear rumors about my age?”

Kaela groaned, dragging a hand down her face. “I said forget about that, alright? And for the record, I heard you were

young,

not

that

young.”

He shrugged, deadpan. “Information tends to get distorted with distance.”

She gave him a long, assessing look, half impressed, half exasperated. “You’re not human, you know that? Most people take months to

feel

the wind, let alone make it move. You do it in a day like you’re just… checking a box.”

“I have a lot of mana and enough experience to be able to do something like this,” Ludger said simply. “If it works, it works.”

Kaela stared at him for a beat longer, then sighed. “You’re terrifying, kid.”

“A terrifying eleven years old kid,” Ludger corrected.

“Right,” she muttered, rubbing her temples. “Even worse.”

Kaela crossed her arms and tilted her head, watching him as the last traces of the wind wall faded into still air. “Alright, prodigy,” she said, her tone half amusement, half disbelief. “What do you want to learn next? Wind Step? Or something a little more flashy? Kids your age usually like tricks that make people stare.”

Ludger brushed some dust off his sleeve. “This much is fine.”

She blinked. “...That’s it?”

He nodded. “Yes. The lesson achieved its goal. You’re free to spend your money now.”

Kaela frowned, clearly thrown off by the abruptness. “You’re serious? That’s all you wanted, for one gold coin?”

“Correct.”

Her brow furrowed deeper. “I thought you wanted to

learn wind magic,

not just… sample it. Do you have any idea what I could teach you with another hour?”

“I have the basics I needed,” Ludger said evenly. “Now it’s just practice. You’ve done your part.”

Kaela stared at him, caught between irritation and admiration. “You’re unbelievable. I don’t know if you’re insane or just the weirdest prodigy I’ve ever met.”

He didn’t answer, already pulling a small notebook from his belt pouch.

As she sighed and grabbed the gold coin, Kaela found herself watching him again, this time more carefully. He was already writing, his pen moving quickly, every line methodical and compact.

He paid an entire gold coin just to unlock a single spell,

she thought.

Didn’t even flinch at the price. But if he learns this fast… maybe he’s right. Maybe that’s all he needed.

Ludger muttered quietly as he wrote, more to himself than anyone else. “Wind attunement behaves differently from water, less resistance, higher strain tolerance. Could reinforce Overdrive circulation if I keep mana layered in rotational vectors rather than compression…”

His handwriting was sharp and efficient, the notes already forming miniature diagrams, spirals marking airflow paths, arrows showing how Overdrive could cycle wind to reduce friction through movement.

Kaela blinked. “You’re writing a research paper now?”

“Notes,” Ludger said without looking up. “To integrate wind attunement into Overdrive without losing stability.”

She stared for a moment longer before laughing softly. “You’re not just insane. You’re dangerous.”

“Maybe,” he murmured, flipping to the next page. “But it works.”

And with that, Ludger continued writing, the faint hum of his mana still curling with the wind around him, already moving from mastery to refinement before the ink had even dried.

When Ludger walked through the front door that evening, he was

humming.

It was rare for him to do that—rare enough that even the faintest tune felt almost foreign on his lips. But after weeks of frustration, theory, and trial, he’d finally reached one of his closest goals. Wind magic, achieved.

All that remained was to test how it interacted with Overdrive, and the possibilities already played through his head: less drag, sharper acceleration, seamless transition between attacks. The math fit. The mana behavior fit. It was all lining up perfectly.

But the moment he stepped into the house, he realized another kind of

test

was waiting for him.

Dinner was already set on the table. Not

being prepared,

not simmering, ready

.

That alone was unusual.

Elaine was many things: healer for fun, scary, overprotective mother, but punctual in domestic matters she was

not.

Dinner was a process, not an event. The smell of freshly baked bread, roasted meat, and spiced vegetables filled the air, but it was the

stillness

of the house that drew his attention first.

The twins were nowhere to be seen. Their usual chaos, the clattering and laughter, was replaced by silence thick enough to make the air feel heavier.

Elaine sat at the far end of the table, perfectly composed, her hands folded neatly in front of her. The soft, practiced smile on her face didn’t reach her eyes.

“Welcome home, Ludger,” she said sweetly, the tone so calm it was unsettling. “You look rather pleased with yourself tonight.”

Ludger froze mid-step, instincts screaming louder than any battlefield alarm.

“…I completed something important,” he admitted cautiously.

“I’m sure you did,” Elaine said, nodding once. “Now, please, sit down.”

She gestured toward the chair across from her, her voice gentle, pleasant, and terrifying in that uniquely maternal way that made even hardened soldiers remember their manners.

Ludger hesitated, scanning the table again. No twins. No Arslan.

Just

her.

That poker-faced smile didn’t falter.

He sighed quietly, pulling out the chair. “Alright,” he said, lowering himself into the seat. “What did I do this time?”

Elaine’s smile widened just a fraction. “We’ll get to that, dear.”

And just like that, Ludger realized he might’ve preferred fighting a sea monster instead.

Elaine let the silence stretch just long enough for Ludger to feel it. The air between them was heavier than the roasted meat scent filling the room.

Then she spoke—calm, even, deceptively pleasant.

“I heard something rather

interesting

today,” she began. “Apparently, a woman in… scandalous clothes was seen near the guild. Word is, she spent quite a bit of time talking to you. Some even say she was getting

very

close at certain moments.”

Her tone didn’t change, but the temperature in the room seemed to drop a few degrees.

Ludger blinked. “Ah. So the rumors already started.”

Elaine arched an eyebrow. “Then they’re true?”

Ludger chuckled softl, —not nervously, just with that dry, tired humor of his. “Rumors always exaggerate things. There was a woman, yes. She was there to teach me wind magic. She’s also the older sister of one of the kids I’m training. That’s all.”

Elaine tilted her head slightly. “Just teaching.”

“Just teaching,” Ludger confirmed. “She’s… colorful, but that’s it. Wind magic, nothing else. I paid her for the lesson and she left.”

Elaine didn’t respond right away. Her eyes narrowed slightly, studying his face the same way she might examine a patient for hidden wounds. It wasn’t anger she radiated, it was

precision.

After a few long seconds, she leaned back slightly in her chair. “Hm.”

That was all she said. Ludger held her gaze, unflinching. She searched his expression for a flicker of guilt or evasion—and found none. His tone, his eyes, his breathing, all calm, steady, and honest.

Finally, she gave a small sigh and nodded once. “Very well. I believe you.”

“Thank you,” Ludger said. “Because if I were lying, I’d be dead by now.”

That earned the faintest twitch of a smile from her, equal parts amusement and acknowledgment. “Good. You’re learning. A lot faster than your father.”

Ludger exhaled quietly, the tension easing just a bit. For now, he’d passed this particular trial.

Still, when Elaine reached for her teacup, the edge of her smile returned, pleasant, warm, and carrying just enough menace to make his instincts sharpen again.

“Of course,” she added, “if I hear anything

else

… we’ll have another talk.”

Ludger gave a resigned nod. “Understood.”

He’d fought monsters, navigated politics, and learned to command the elements, but surviving his mother’s interrogation remained one of his greatest accomplishments.

Elaine sipped her tea with the slow precision of someone who was giving her prey time to breathe before finishing the hunt.

“I just hope,” she said finally, tone smooth as glass, “you don’t start wasting your youth the way your father did. Running around, causing trouble, telling sweet lies to random girls.”

Ludger blinked once. “I don’t—”

Her eyes narrowed ever so slightly, that subtle gleam of motherly pressure turning the air around the table

sharp.

He caught himself mid-sentence, instinctively straightening his posture. “Even if I wanted to,” he said quickly, “I don’t have time for that.”

Elaine’s aura, metaphorically and possibly literally, spiked for a heartbeat before settling again. Then she gave a small, satisfied nod. “Good.”

She set her teacup down, the faintest smile tugging at the corner of her lips. “You’re still far too young to think about girlfriends anyway. But, ” she added casually, eyes glinting, “if one day you

do

want to find someone, I can recommend the right type.”

Ludger arched an eyebrow. “...The right type?”

“The quiet kind,” Elaine said without hesitation. “A village girl, hardworking, loyal, gentle, someone who’ll keep you grounded. The homely cute sort, not the kind who shows up at the guild dressed like a half-clothed storm.”

Ludger gave her a look that landed somewhere between disbelief and weary resignation. “…So basically, you’re promoting yourself.”

Elaine’s smile widened just slightly. “Well,” she said, voice sweet as sugar, “it’s worked out rather well for your father. I know some of them in the town that I would recommend.”

From the other room, as if summoned by cosmic irony, Arslan sneezed.

Ludger sighed, dragging a hand down his face. “I’ll… keep that in mind.”

“Do,” Elaine said, tone light again, as if the entire conversation had never happened. “Now eat before the food gets cold, dear.”

Ludger took a slow breath and reached for his plate. Wind magic, politics, monsters, none of them compared to navigating dinner with his mother.

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