The Count seemed to have completely forgot about his existence.
"Oh, oh, oh!" Nana laughed. "See, Lark? Manners. That's something so many youngsters lack nowadays."
Lith kept looking around, waiting for someone to explain what was happening.
"Can I be of assistance?" He asked.
Ricker once again needed all his willpower to prevent himself from throwing a fit of rage.
"This is their prodigy? A toothless bum? I should ask the Count to whip them all to death for their blatant lies! Simply outrageous!"
"Yes, Lith." Selia stepped in again. "Count Lark loves magic in all its kinds and forms, and I was just telling him about how you kill blinkers without ruining even a feather. Would you mind to show him?"
She took out a wooden stick, holding it up for the Count and everyone else to see.
Lith sighed with relief.
"All this fuss for chore magic? They almost gave me a heart attack. If it's just to entertain some bored nobles, why not? If the village thrives, so will my family."
"Brezza!" After twirling twice his middle and medium finger, a small vortex enveloped the stick. Outwardly it was just like the ones every housewife used daily to clean their houses, but looking at it closely one could notice that it was actually two different vortexes, one spinning clockwise and the other counter clockwise.
This way the spell applied a huge strain to the stick in the point where the two vortexes connected, causing it to break almost instantly.
Lith had invented it after Selia had started bothering him too much about how he killed the blinkers. He could not show her spirit magic, so he came up with this trick.
Ricker wanted to rebut saying that Lith was standing barely a meter (1.1 yards) away from the stick, but even he knew how hard it was to use two different spells at the same time. He also knew that such an objection would be met by the old bat requesting him to do the same. And he had no idea how to.
Nana waved her hand, and a villager put another head of lettuce on the stump.
"Lith, be a dear and knock that out, please."
Lith was getting more and more confused. The Count now had stars in his eyes, looking at him like some mythical beast had descended from the heavens, while the noble kid was as pale as a ghost.
"What the heck is going on here? Why the Count is so engrossed by cheap magic? And why no one cares about that poor kid? Whatever he has is getting worse."
Lith shrugged before flickering his middle finger while saying: "Jorun!"
An ice dart hit the lettuce dead center, making it roll a few meters away.
"Without using hand signs!" The count gasped, his voice so faint that Lith could not hear him.
"One last thing, dear Lith. If you manage to indulge this poor old lady, I will treat you and all your family for free until you start your apprenticeship. Are you willing to humour me one last time?"
Lith had no need to think before accepting. Despite his best efforts, Tista still needed constant care. From time to time they had still to seek for Nana's help and it wasn't cheap.
Nana smiled, full of confidence enough for the both of them.
"Bromann, toss one of those as high as you can."
Bromann threw a head of lettuce with a lob shot, sending it about three meters (10") high. When it reached its peak, Nana made a simple gesture, cutting the air horizontally with her extended hand and fingers, conjuring ten ice darts.
Five struck its left side, five the right side. When the head of lettuce started falling, Nana cut the air again, this time vertically, splitting it evenly in four parts.
Then she simply opened her palm toward the sky, conjuring four small vortexes that brought down the four pieces slowly.
"Damn! Not only Nana's mana flow is still superior to mine, but her skill level is above and beyond my expectations. I could probably achieve the same result, but I'd need both hands and something more than just a casual wave of the hand.
Now I understand why everyone in the village holds her in such high regard. She is likely to be the reason why the village of Lutia is so peaceful. If she can do so much with simple chore magic, I can't imagine what she can do with a real spell." Lith thought.
"Now is your turn. Bromann!"
Another head of lettuce, another lob shot.
Lith knew it wasn't a contest, he wasn't supposed to perform as good as Nana.
Until Lith could get a clear picture of how much talent was considered good, how much to be considered a genius level and how much for the "burn that monster" label, he had to play it safe.
When the shot reached his peak, Lith made hands signs with both hands shouting "Jorun!", conjuring four ice darts, two per side. When the lettuce started to fall, he used "Brezza" to cut it unevenly in half, using it again to summon two vortexes to bring the pieces down. Once again, they were rotating in opposite directions, the phenomenon highlighted by the slowly spinning lettuce.
"In for a penny in for a pound. They already know I can do it, if I have to entertain the Count, might as well do it with a little swag."
The crowd exploded into an applause, soon joined by and ecstatic Count Lark that still could not believe his own eyes.
Nana sent Lith away to his parents, reassuring him that she would keep her side of the bargain, before speaking again to Ricker Trahan.
"And that, young man, is what real talent for magic look like!"
Ricker could not hear her, thought. Back when Nana had showed her skill, he had fainted standing up.
His mind could not accept that all the certainties he had grew up with, had proven to be nothing more than convenient lies.