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Now fifteen years old, Judas sat on his bed as five tiny glowing stars orbited his mana core.
He brought his hands together and, with impeccable mana control, formed a swirling ball of mana.
The ball shifted, becoming a cube, then a pyramid, then a diamond. An octahedron. A dodecahedron.
The shapes grew more complex over time.
It wasn't just limited to geometric forms, either; he could shape the mana into a rose, a piece of fruit, an animal, or a face with flawless accuracy.
It didn't matter how complex the structure was; as long as Judas had seen it, he could perfectly replicate the shape with mana.
Judas summoned over a hundred more mana spheres, which floated around his room.
He began to make hand gestures, shaping each one into whatever he pleased.
He was confident that only a select few in Estelon's world could rival this level of mana control.
Just as he was about to summon more, a feminine voice called out.
"Judas, are you awake? Come here and help me with this."
He heard his mother calling him. "Alright, Mom."
His parents, George and Irene Spade, were humans living in a small village on the outskirts of the Alvs Mountains.
Judas found his mother planting a small tree in their garden.
Although she wasn't a beauty who could topple kingdoms like in cultivation novels, she was still a very beautiful woman with brown hair and purple eyes.
"Bring me some water from the well. The bucket is in the shed."
"Alright."
Judas quickly grabbed the bucket and, on his way back, encountered a group of elves gathered outside his house.
"Sir Judas is here!" a male elf exclaimed.
"Being in your presence brings us great joy," a female dark elf said, bowing her head.
This village had consisted entirely of humans, dwarves and beastmen until five years ago, when a group of elves suddenly moved in.
Looking at the elves surrounding him, Judas smiled wryly and put the water buckets on the ground.
"Why are you guys here? Don't you have anything better to do?" he asked, exasperated.
"We couldn't bear to be separated from you for too long, Sir Judas," the female dark elf replied.
"It's only been a day. What are you talking about?"
This behavior had started a couple of months ago when Judas had coincidentally met a group of traveling elves.
They were just passing through but, upon seeing him, unanimously decided to move in.
'It must be because of Estelon,' he thought.
Although he was no longer the Spirit King, his past life had left him with an aura that attracted these elves.
When Judas asked them to elaborate, they said that his very presence felt like he was the embodiment of the sacred tree.
In their eyes, Judas was no different from elven royalty, despite being a human.
"We apologize if we upset you, Sir Judas. Please bestow punishment upon us as you see fit."
A male elf stepped forward and bowed his head.
The presence of the elves drew the attention of the surrounding villagers.
Elves in Danmachi are a prideful race and often treat other races with disdain.
In Orario, this kind of subservient attitude would be shocking, as it was usually reserved for gods or high elves of royal lineage.
At this point, the villagers were used to it, though they had no clue why these elves held Judas in such high regard.
"Please raise your head. I'm not really upset."
Judas sighed, wanting this to be over.
"Then please allow us to remain at your side and serve you," another elf spoke.
"How many times do I have to tell you? 'No' means 'no'."
Judas shook his head. His reply made the elves look sullen.
Seeing their disappointed expressions, an idea formed in his head.
"Do any of you have a falna?" he asked.
Mika and the male elf from before raised their hands in excitement.
"Mika and I belong to the same familia. I'm only at Level 1, while Mika is at Level 2," the male elf replied.
Only two of the five elves present had falnas.
Judas wasn't surprised; this group had been traveling with the goal of enrolling in the School District.
"Do any of you know any magic?"
Judas questioned.
The male elf and Mika exchanged smiles.
"If Sir Judas is interested in magic, we'd be happy to demonstrate our abilities," Mika said with a beaming smile.
After some discussion, Judas and the elves agreed to meet later.
After shaking hands with Mika, who seemed to be the acting leader, Judas thought to himself,
'I've only watched the first three seasons, but if I remember correctly, elves usually despise being touched by other races, at least that's how it worked in the world of Danmachi.'
He recalled some information he had gathered. '
'The School District... a place that gathers talented people from all over the world. It's a huge floating ship, 700 meters in diameter, comparable to a city.'
'Danmachi has a medieval fantasy vibe, but for some reason, it has a magical spaceship like something out of a sci-fi film.'
He found it absurd.
'That place seems more interesting than Orario. I heard anyone between the ages of six and eighteen is eligible to enter as a student.'
When he entered his home, his father was already eating breakfast, and his mother was cooking. They all turned to him.
"Are those elves bothering you again?"
His mother, Irene, asked with concern.
"They're good people, Mom. You don't have to worry," Judas replied.
"Seriously, in my youth, all the elves I met were more reserved. I wonder what you did to get them to act like that," she said.
Judas just shrugged.
George, Judas's father, a man with black hair, a beard, and hazel eyes, stood up with a grin.
"Right, any progress with Mika? She's a beautiful dark elf, and I heard she's the same age as you."
"She is a year older than me."
"Anyway, if I were you, I'd have already hooked up with those elven ladies... Ow!"
His father didn't get to finish the sentence before his mother hit him on the head with a frying pan.
George and Judas looked at Irene, who was staring at her husband with cold eyes. Beads of sweat rolled down George's face.
"Of course, compared to you, honey, those elven women couldn't match your beauty," he quickly said.
"Be quiet," Irene replied with a cold voice.
"Yes, ma'am."
Judas shook his head at the scene. After breakfast, he went outside to continue his training. Closing his eyes, he felt the five tiny stars spinning around his mana core.
"I'm close to reaching the sixth tier," he muttered.
From Estelon's memories, he knew that reaching the sixth tier would classify him as a Master Mage or an Archmage Candidate.
In Estelon's world, mages had a hierarchy based on the number of stars orbiting their core.
Apprentice for 0 stars... Adept for 1 star... Practitioner for 2 stars... Junior for 3 stars... Expert for 4 stars... Senior for 5 stars and Master for 6 stars.
Those with seven and eight stars were titled Archmages, and nine stars earned the title of Sage.
"It took me about seven years, but I'm almost a Master Mage. Not bad. The Legendary Hero took around eight years to reach this stage," Judas thought, feeling proud.
For context, someone with ordinary talent would spend an entire lifetime to become a Master.
If Judas were in Estelon's world, his rapid growth from 0 to 5 stars in just six years would send shockwaves throughout the mage community.
In his opinion, though, with Estelon's memories, supreme mana control, and a perfect mana core, his quick growth was no surprise.
"I guess it's time to meet up with Mika and the others."