The Unsurpassed Maiden

After finishing their little story-telling, Lady Ning Gwang excuses herself from her two students and makes her way towards the bathroom.

The two students who were both left inside the room with a tense and awkward silence didn't know what to do. It was Mi Young who broke their awkward atmosphere.

"So, Kwang Soo, when did you learn all of these?" Mi Young asks in a careful tone.

"Why are you asking me?" The boy questions as he adjusts himself so he could sit better while his back leans against the headboard.

"Just askin'." Mi Young answers with a quiet mumble.

Kwang Soo crosses his arms while giving Mi Young a side glance. Then the boy sighs before saying, "Before I was known as the troublemaking senior, I topped all of my class. You could say that I was a star student. Having no strong and well-known clan to back me up, everyone praised me because of my raw skills and knowledge. This also caused the teachers to flock around me and ask me to be their star student, but I always refused."

"Why?"

"Unlike other people, I don't like other people teaching me things that I can learn myself."

"Then why did you even go to school if you don't like learning things from other people?" Mi Young asks.

"You know, sometimes I hate you and your mouth. Just let me finish will you?" Kwang Soo says with a sneer. "Since they won't leave me alone, I started fighting with the other students. Then afterwards, I also started battling teachers to embarrass them so no one would come after me anywhere and so I can have my peaceful student life back. And if you want to ask if it worked, you know the answer to that. Anyway, only one teacher never stopped pestering me. I didn't know teacher Ning Gwang at first because she never teaches class. But after she showed me her dual element as well as her mastery in Materialization, I became curious. So I ended up accepting her offer and became her student."

"So that's when she told you about her past?"

"Uhn. Apparently, it's needed in order to build both our trust in each other. That's also the time she introduced me to her lover."

"Lover? You mean teacher Zhong?"

Kwang Soo rolled his eyes at the black haired girl. "Who else could it be then?"

Mi Young crosses her arms at the other party. "Have you always been a smart mouth or did you get it from teacher Zhong?"

"Say that in front of him and he'll incinerate you." Kwang Soo says while closing his eyes once more.

There was another silence that enveloped them before Mi Young opened her mouth to ask another question again, "Did you ever see the two of them use their…you know…original elements?"

"Didn't you just see Lady Ning Gwang turn that knife into ice earlier?"

"Knife? But it broke—oh. So that's why." Mi Young says as she remembered how the knife thrown at her teacher shattered like glass earlier. After that, she remained mute once more.

"As for teacher Zhong, I only saw him use his Electro ability once. And that was once when he tried to electrocute  an eel." Kwang Soo suddenly says after noticing the other girl's silence.

"E-Electrocute an eel?"

"I know. Pretty childish actually. If you pass the old man's walls, he'll be more and more of a child to your eyes than a teacher. That snobbish and serious demeanor you saw him with? That's just an illusion." Kwang Soo explains, still with his eyes closed.

"I can never imagine teacher Zhong could be someone who tried to electrocute an eel?" Mi Young mumbles while playing with the helm of her one-piece suit. She just realized she had never bought any clothes along with her since she thought they would just go in and out of the city for a few hours. But as she looks out the window now, the sun has already set so high. She wonders if the school were probably looking for them now.

Since Mi Young doesn't have anything to do, she just continued playing with the helm of her one-piece suit, not minding her surroundings at all.

"Can you please stop doing that? It's distracting!" Kwang Soo suddenly shouts after a few minutes of silence.

Mi Young looks up at him to see the boy glaring at her. And when she followed the boy's gaze, she realized she was playing with the outlines of her one-piece suit, which allowed her to show more of her inner skin, just right her hips.

"What—Pervert!" Mi Young shouts at the man as she tries to hide her legs.

This caused Kwang Soo to glare at her even more, "You're the one who was playing too much with your suit!"

"Why did you look then?!"

"Is it my fault if you're there doing that in front of me?"

"Well—"

"Children? I have only been gone for a few minutes and the two of you are already about to burn this building down." Lady Ning Gwang scolds. She looks at Kwang Soo before saying, "Kwang Soo, I expected you to act more maturely since you are older than her. And you, Mi Young, don't do such things in front of males."

"But I wasn't doing it on purpose!" Mi Young protests.

"I know but males are dumb and they think women are born to seduce them and flirt with them." The white haired teacher says before she winks at her female student.

Kwang Soo sat there, arms still crossed but mouth hanging open with what his teacher just said. It took him a couple of minutes to react at Lady Ning Gwang's words, "Are you saying I'm dumb, teacher?"

Ning Gwang turns to her female student and asked, "Did I say he was dumb, Mi Young?"

"No." Mi Young answered while shaking her head. She then looks at Kwang Soo before sticking her tongue out at him.

The older boy stood up from where he was resting and walked off towards the door, "Whatever. You two are psychopaths."

Lady Ning Gwang laughed at Kwang Soo's retreating figure. "Where are you going, Kwang Soo? We were just joking!"

"I'll roam around for a bit. Just call me if the Grand Master arrives." The boy says while waving his teacher goodbye. He didn't even spare them any glance before he went through the doors.

"What an emotional kid." Lady Ning Gwang says while shaking her head. Then she looks at Mi Young, "How about you? Aren't you going to roam around the city? It's a one time opportunity."

"I could go out?"

"Uhn. Do you think I would let you wallow here alone? Go and roam around and have fun! I'll send someone to look for you when the Grand Master arrives." Lady Ning Gwang says with a small smile.

"Are you sure you're fine here alone?"

The teacher smiles fondly at her, "While I appreciate your concern for me, I also want to enjoy the peacefulness when I'm alone. Now go."

"You just want to sleep without anyone disturbing you." The black haired girl grumbles while she stands up from the bed. "I'll go then. Have fun sleeping!"

"Will do!" The white haired teacher says while waving at her student's retreating figure.

When Mi Young came out from the office building, the busy streets immediately greeted her. Sure, the academy is lively as well but it's packed with students and teachers. It's not the same as seeing people of different ages running or walking around the area. Aside from that, the people at school always have their books with them so Mi Young couldn't pretend that she was in another place. Unlike here where people are busy doing anything they like.

The black haired girl starts to wander around the busy streets, just admiring the constant noise coming from people chattering or children laughing, and watching everyone have fun. Mi Young can't actually say that she misses the life outside the academy since even in her own hometown, everything is practically boring. Well except when she was at that magical grassfield or if she's reading one of her father's books.

Mi Young grew up in a poor hometown that has no view at all. Even the weather there is boring since it's monotonous. So it's safe to say that it's actually her first time roaming around the streets of a city.

She walked further and further, until she reached the area where different merchants were selling their goods. She saw an old couple selling beautiful and fresh flowers, she also saw a man selling some goods like mouth-watering candies, another female merchant was also selling cute dresses and clothes. However, what caught My Young the most was the stall at the far-end portion of the stalls.

There was an old man sitting at the center of his stall which was full of books. When Mi Young tried to touch a book, the old man suddenly called her out.

"Do you love reading books, young lady?"

Mi Young jumps from where she was standing and detaches her hands from the book she was about to open. She then turned to face the old man, "Yes. I love reading them."

"What types of books do you like to read?"

"Anything." Mi Young hums. "Any book is special since they give different information."

The old man smiles at the young girl's answer. "That is true indeed. Feel free to look for any book that catches your attention."

"Thank you." Mi Young says while bowing at the man.

She started roaming around the small stall to go and find a book that can keep her interested for a while. However, all she found were books that she had already read or some books that had no use for her at all. Mi Young sighed after trying to look for another one.

But when she was about to exit the stall, a purple book that was almost hidden on the last shelf inside the stall caught her attention. She wouldn't be able to find it if it weren't for the sun's ray hitting the outline of the book which was painted in a golden color which made it shimmer and caught her attention.

Mi Young walks forward to get it.