Wind howled through the area as six spinning tornadoes emerged from the first magic circle.

"Peasant. I was ordered to capture you, so I only cast a seal. But if you're not strong enough, this seal might just kill you," Melissa said.

Nova heard her words but didn't bother to respond. Instead, he stared at the six tornadoes as they passed through the magic circles, one by one.

'They're getting stronger,' he thought.

Each time they passed through a circle, the tornadoes' size increased. It reached the point where, after the fifth circle, the wind had become so strong that the city walls trembled, showing signs of collapsing under the pressure.

Nova covered his face with a hand to block the strong currents and thought, 'Strong. Definitely strong enough to be considered a nuclear weapon on Earth. Considering how hard it is to even break a table here, the fact that the walls are cracking means that, on Earth, this power would be enough to level whole cities.'

When the six tornadoes passed through the last magic circle, what came out on the other side were six green-grey chains. They were the size of a finger but so intricate, they could've easily been mistaken for a craftsman's work, meant to be kept and admired.

In reality, the very air around them was being sucked in by the chains, creating a vacuum just a few centimeters from their surfaces.

Kahn looked up at the six chains and thought, 'This young man is done for. He let the seal go through all six circles, in this situation even I would need to tread carefully against them.

"Finally scared?" Melissa asked when she saw Nova frown, and couldn't help but taunt.

Without even glancing at her, Nova said, "Scared? I'm more intrigued than scared."

"Intrigued? By what?"

"How did you summon those magic circles? And how do you manipulate Mana? What method do you use? That's what intrigues me," Nova said.

"I thought you had something interesting to say, but you're just lusting after something you'll never get. Since there's nothing more to be said, let the sealing begin."

Melissa waved her staff, and the six chains zeroed in on Nova in an instant and shot forth.

Nova's eyes widened.

One moment the chains were high above, and the next he felt himself lifted into the air, his limbs, torso, and neck were being twisted and pulled.

'What kind of speed is this? I couldn't react at all,' he thought as he struggled to free himself, but it was all in vain. The wind chains kept him in place and tore his flesh apart, his regeneration wasn't quick enough to mend the damage, the injuries got more and more severe.

Once the six tornadoes go through all six circles, the Hexawind Seal's power reaches its peak. From a former tier six spell, it begins to rival tier seven and weaker tier eight ones in power. Even high rank mages, if they didn't stop its full cast, would end up sealed, much less Nova, who was now suffering the consequences for his inaction.

"All that talk and you got caught so easily. Are you regretting not obediently coming back with us to see the King now?" Melissa said with a sneer.

Nova, too busy to listen, was thinking, 'They hurt, and I almost panicked when I was chained, but now that I feel them, I have the strange sensation that I can overpower them with my Will, as if I could take control of the Mana particles and forcefully disperse them back into the air. Is she not using her Will to cast magic? Then how?'

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'I need to learn more about this. How is she able to cast such magic when her Will is so much lower than mine? Is there a fourth method to control Mana? Although, judging from how, if I so chose, I could easily disperse her magic, perhaps it might give me insight into how to improve my own control. Who knows, maybe this fourth Mana manipulation method is good and she's just bad at it.'

His mind rapidly went through every option, finally settling on one—just as Kahn walked up to him.

The knight, taking Nova's silence as a sign of stubbornness, calmly said, "Young one, is there a need to continue resisting? Look at your skin being sheared by the wind. Save yourself some pain and quietly follow us back."

'I absolutely need to capture that mage. As for him…'

Nova looked at Kahn and said, his voice laced with pain, "Y-You're right. I should save myself some pain and give in."

Kahn's lips didn't have time to lift into a smile before Nova whispered:

"But… I want that mage to come here and apologize to me for this treatment. Am I or am I not the King's guest?"

Melissa couldn't hear him, if she had, it wasn't certain whether Nova would've kept his head on his shoulders.

Hearing those words, Kahn almost choked on air. He shot Nova a strange look and said, "Young one, do you even understand your situation? It's not a matter of when you will come with us, but how."

"I understand," Nova said. "Since that can't be done… can you come closer? I have one request that I don't want that mage to hear."

He has so many requests when he's just a prisoner. Kids these days can't even understand basic situations.

Although Kahn thought that, he still walked closer, stopping just a meter away from Nova.

'Got you.'

"Tell me, if I—"

Nova's Will erupted, destroying five of the six chains in an instant.

He condensed the last one, the one holding his left arm, into his finger, forming a thin wind blade, and swiped it.

Before Kahn could even finish speaking, a thin line, barely visible to the naked eye, appeared on his neck and, shortly after, his head flew into the air.

It took long to explain, but everything happened in the blink of an eye.

Standing atop the city walls, Melissa, who had clearly seen Kahn's head hit the ground, didn't react until several seconds later.

"H-How did you…?" she muttered in shock, so softly that Nova didn't hear a word from below.

Unconcerned about what Melissa might be thinking, Nova smiled lightly. 'This knight was too kind, or it wouldn't have been this easy. Next, I need to capture the mage.'

His eyes landed on Melissa like a hunter stalking its prey.

Sensing his gaze, she instinctively shivered. Her eyes darted left and right, searching for soldiers to guard her—but she had already dismissed them all because Kahn was there.

"Searching for backup now?" asked Nova with a smile as he walked toward the gate.

Being mocked by a peasant made Melissa's face contort in anger. "SHUT UP!"

She raised her staff and shouted, "SKYREND BLADE!"

A small magic circle flickered beside her for a moment before disappearing.

Nova was about to say something when pain shot through his right arm.

Looking down, he saw nothing. His arm ended just above the elbow with a clean cut. No blood even spilled.

'I didn't see anything…'

Melissa's mad laughter rang out as a few beads of sweat formed on her forehead. "This is what you get for mocking me, peasant!"

Nova's smile turned into a grin. 'Those chains were already really good, but that blade might be even better.'

His feet glowed green, and he jumped forward, the ground beneath his feet cracked.

Melissa was still laughing and about to raise her staff once more, but a hand coated in dull yellow Mana gripped her throat as a whisper reached her ears.

"Teach me magic, and I'll let you go."

"Ugh…"

She struggled, her limbs flailing in the air as she tried to speak, but Nova's grip was so tight she could barely breathe.

Noticing his mistake, he loosened the grip and, with a wry smile, he said "My bad, my bad. I'm still new to all this. You can talk now."

Melissa had a fit of coughing as she gasped for breath. Seconds later, she looked at Nova in terror and stuttered, "T-To learn magic, y-you need to be able to c-control Mana."

"Seriously? Are you so scared you can't even tell I'm already doing it?" Nova wondered.

Lightning flashed around him, and he sent a few arcs toward Melissa, zapping her and causing her to shake.

"Are you going to teach me, yes or no?"

His grip tightened slightly.

"Y-Yes, I'll t-teach you," she said, horrified.

Never did she expect this young man, seemingly a knight, to also be able to control Mana.

It was unheard of for a mage to train as a knight for a simple reason: Mana awakening happened during childhood, and some were even born feeling Mana.

With the status and strength disparity between knights and mages, which mage in their right mind would willingly train for years trying to awaken Aura when they could just control Mana without effort?

Even if some had tried, there were no records of anyone successfully becoming both a knight and a mage.

Nova nodded. "Good choice. Now let's get out of here."

Still gripping her neck, Nova jumped off the walls and ran.

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