"For a Duke, you have a lot of time huh?" Zeus joked as they walked towards the training hall. 

"Well, I wanted to confirm something."

Shortly afterwards, the two reached the training hall. Just from their positions, Zeus could hear people shouting and yelling from the inside. Small explosions occasionally reverberated which seemed to be coming from a magic spell. 

"There are other people inside?" Zeus muttered. 

"The people of the Ambrose House also use this hall to train. We have this insanely big space so it would be a loss if I made this hall private." Duke Kayn replied. 

After entering the training hall, the interior of the area came into his view. Zeus surveyed the inside with a curious look. Sorcerers and knights alike were everywhere training their skills and magic spells. Many close combat fighters practiced against durable dummies in which no matter how much they hit, it remained undamaged. 

On the other hand, sorcerers launched their spells in an open vicinity. From water element, flame, earth, and wind, various spells were fired throughout that area. Of course, the spell's attack power was properly controlled to not accidentally destroy the property. 

"It's the Duke!" 

At that moment, a yell suddenly gathered everyone's attention. As soon as everyone glanced at the entrance, they immediately stopped what they were doing and bowed slightly. 

"Lord Kayn!" 

"Good afternoon, Lord Kayn!" 

"My Lord!" 

Duke Kayn smiled and waved his hand. 

"It's alright. Just treat me like I'm not here and continue what you're doing."

"As you wish, Lord Kayn." 

Everyone nodded and went back to their training. However, unlike earlier, they seemed vigorous and the intensity of their training suddenly increased by several folds. 

"You're like a booster pill, Duke." Zeus said in amusement, looking at these people who seemed to be showing off. 

Duke Kayn chuckled. "Well, when your idol passes by, of course, you'll try to show off. But I'll give them this one. Everyone's working hard." He turned towards Zeus and continued, "How about we start now? I'll teach you the basics first and then we proceed to learn those spells." 

Zeus nodded. The basics should be controlling the aether inside his body. However, as he has tremendous control over the physical mana, he's confident that this wouldn't take a lot of time. 

After finding an open space, Zeus began to learn his very first magic spell.

… 

"I… I have seen something like this." Duke murmured, staring dazedly at the aether floating freely around Zeus' arms. It's only been 10 minutes and Zeus' control over his aether already reached near perfection. 

Of course, this is easy as his aether amount wasn't that abundant but to do this in 10 minutes? That's almost unheard of! 

'Yeah, should I just call him a monster?' Duke thought before shaking his head. 

"Cough—, I guess we can proceed with the spell fundamentals." After calming himself down, Duke Kayn proceeded to teach the next course. "Firstly, it's composed of…" 

"I already know it, Duke. When we were still in the mountains, Elise taught me that." Zeus immediately said. Knowing these fundamentals, he already had a basic grasp of the next step. 

"Well, that's good." Duke Kayn placed his hand on his chin. "We can start training those two spells now. Try to copy this magic circle."

Without delay, Duke Kayn created a white magic circle that was slightly larger than ordinary Tier 1 spells and looked way calmer than spells filled with a specific type of element. 

"This is a magic circle without an attribute and also the exact copy of the [Lightning] spell albeit without a lightning attribute. I can't release it because I don't have that attrib—" 

Before the Duke even finished his explanation, Zeus aimed his palm into an open field and visualized the five fundamentals. 

"First, the aether release."

At that moment, golden energy twirled around his arms and flowed towards his index fingers. Aether frantically revolved around it as if it was a whirlpool. 

"Next, draw the circle." 

Zeus drew several circles imitating the circle that Duke Kayn had drawn earlier. With his exceptional focus, the step ended easily. 

"Inscribe the characters."

The Lightning spell is only composed of 2 four stroke characters. Zeus struggled for a while, but in the end, it ended as he wanted it to. 

However, after finishing this step, he noticed the magic circle vibrating frantically. Sparks of lightning crackled around it as it devoured the surrounding aether. 

"Damn it, I'm losing control!" Zeus clenched his teeth as he attempted to focus even more. However, the pain of the lightning crackling in his arms made it difficult to concentrate. 

"Zeus, stop the spell immediately!" Duke Kayn yelled. He could interfere but Zeus' hand would be blown up for sure.

'Damn it, what's wrong?' 

The lightning element started to riot around, causing everyone to stop their practice. Duke Kayn instantly set up a barrier preventing the damage from escalating further. 

Of course, Zeus was unaware of what was happening. As of now, his mind only focused on the magic circle before his eyes. 

At that moment, 

'Control it as if it was a part of your body.' 

Elise's reminder surfaced in his head. 

'That's right!' 

Immediately, Zeus stopped commanding it; instead, he released the magic circle freely. 

Crackle! 

Lightning danced in the surroundings destroying the bits of the ground. Outside the Duke's barrier, this lightning resembled a natural thunderstorm due to its abundant amount and destructive power. 

Gossips started to run freely among these groups of people. They wondered how strong the young man was, seeing how these lightning bolts were enough to pose a threat against Peak Novice ranks. 

'This is exaggerated.' Duke Kayn's eyes sharpened. Although these lightning bolts felt nothing to him, their exaggerated attack power is not something a newly awakened Zeus could achieve. It shouldn't be possible. 

'Or maybe it's the spell.' 

A book with only [Lightning] as its name. No indication of what this spell is aside from being able to generate lightning.

'Generate lightning… hang on.'

Duke Kayn's eyes widened. 

'Could it be…?'

Duke Kayn focused his gaze on Zeus' magic circle. Unlike earlier, it's stable and there are no signs of tweaking. It's as calm as the waters! 

'He already fired the spell?' 

… 

Zeus closed his eyes and entered a deep state of relaxation. The sound outside began to diminish until his mind hovered in a realm where he could see the inside of his body. 

'Control it as if it were a part of your body.' Zeus chanted over and over in his head. 

Subconsciously, he opened his eyes and the lightning coming out from his palms diminished rapidly like bullets. A few seconds later, the golden magic circle was the only thing remaining. 

"I did it!" 

At the same time, a mechanical voice rang in his head. 

< You have learned the spell [Lightning]. >

[ Lightning ] 

[Active Skill] 

[Tier: 1 /?] 

[Level: 1]

[Description: Generate lightning on your hands.]

[Proficiency: 5%]

[Cost: 1 aether per minute.]

< You have completed the quest! >

[Reward: 1,000 System Points.]

[A new quest is being generated.]

'Whoa! Already 5%? And what's with this consumption? Only 1 per minute? This is as good as nothing!' Zeus yelled inwardly as he read through the skill interface.

'This one too.'

He also noticed the question mark on its tier but Zeus ignored it for now. After all, he doesn't have any idea what that means. Although he had a guess, he didn't want to expect something only to end up utterly disappointed. 

"Are you alright?" Duke Kayn hurriedly inquired as he deactivated the barrier. Zeus' hands have veiny marks, probably due to being electrocuted earlier.

Zeus raised his hand and felt numbness around it. 

"Should be fine."

Although he has a lightning affinity, it does not mean he's immune to lightning. He had resistance but it cannot offset the full damage in one go. However, what confused him the most was the power of the spell. 

As Zeus scanned the surroundings, all he had seen was an absolute mess. Parts of the ground were scorched. Some were even destroyed. The area reached about 10 meters and the damage was done in just a few seconds. 

"This spell…" Zeus muttered in a puzzled tone. He glanced at the Duke as if asking for confirmation. 

"I don't know. But the place where it came from, the Blitz City, was a den of a powerful sorcerer a long time ago and he's a lightning sorcerer." Duke Kayn said, recalling the past events that happened. 

"I see. Maybe this is one of his spells." Zeus closed the skill interface. 

Duke Kayn shrugged his shoulders. "I guess we'll never know." 

[Restore.]

With a wave of his hand, the ground trembled and the shattered floor began to regain its correct form. 

"Be careful when using that. Unless you have good control over that spell, you should never use it in real battles or you're just going to put yourself in danger." 

"Yeah. I'm not stupid to do that." Zeus nodded. 

Although with paralyzed hands, Zeus continued to practice. The Thunder Spear spell was much easier and he immediately get a hang of this spell. 

< You have learned the spell [Thunder Spear]. >

[Thunder Spear]

[Active Skill.]

[Tier: 1]

[Level: 1/10]

[Description: Conjures a 2-meter lightning spear that shoots towards its target.]

[Proficiency: 5%]

[Cost: 10 aether.]

After casting it a few times, Zeus felt his aether slowly draining. 

Therefore, In the end, the practice temporarily ended. He was also sent to a room where the doctor healed his arms. Even then, he still needed a full night's rest for a full recovery. Fortunately, the Duke made sure that the event wouldn't go out of the hall so he didn't need to deal with people trying to see its authenticity. 

After all, he just cast a spell after only seeing it at once. 

… 

The next morning, after doing his usual morning routine and a few stretches, Zeus was immediately called to the Duke's office. 

"What is this?" Zeus asked as he held the red mail Duke Kayn gave him. 

"A referral." Duke Kayn calmly responded. 

"Referral for what?" 

Duke Kayn threw another card that had Zeus' face and name on it. 

"The Guild Hall."