The Magician of Sound

Ten years ago.

Inside Fisher's Family Mansion, a boy walked toward the green garden with a tired expression. Beside him was a tall brown-haired woman wearing a maid uniform.

"Young Master, you said you want to meet an acquaintance in this house, where is he?" She politely asked while looking left and right, finding no one.

"That was just a lie. Even though this was the engagement for Elder Sister, it was simply too boring, I couldn't stay there." The eight years old Evan sighed, pointing at a small but cool gazebo. "How about we wait there for a while? I will probably take a nap."

"I thought you had a friend." The maid sighed, wondering what to do. She could report to the family head, but got punished by it because she interfered with the conversation, or she could wait here with Evan, but got punished as well because she went with Evan's charade. Either case, she wouldn't be able to escape from her job.

She ended up following Evan to the gazebo. If the family head didn't know anything about this, she wouldn't get punished, so it was fine.

"Young Master… I think you should practice more. Maybe you should get a rival from this house, so you can continue improving because you don't want to lose to that person."

"It's fine. I can do almost everything, and my magic power is quite high. I have started practicing my magic control, so I have done enough."

"Ehm…" The maid fell silent. Evan took eight hours lazing around while practicing for only three hours. 'How could that be enough?'

"There is nothing happy in training, so why would I want to spend more time practicing? Besides, all the things that my teacher told me, I have completed all of them half of the time, so I am just acting that I can't do it to extend the duration. Hence, more free time for me." Evan shrugged.

"Ahaha…" She realized once again how hard it was to raise this boy up. Evan had been under her care for as long as she could remember as she served the lady, his mother. "You should try harder, Young Master. There are many children that have power as strong as you, and there are even some that are stronger than you."

"I don't want to compete with them. Even if I need to serve the army in the future, I will just stay in the rear and be done with it."

"Come on. We can take a look at the nearest person near us! It is…" The maid thought for a moment. "It is the Graham Family. That's right. Michelle Graham should be at the same age as you, but she is far stronger than you."

"That's because she has Dark Element. Coupled with her magic, the base has granted an S rank to her. What about me? I am only a B rank, barely because of my magic power. If my magic power is a bit lower, then I might only be a C rank."

"That is just a rank."

"Just a rank? My casting speed is not fast, so the enemy will destroy me before I can fight them. That's why I have lost my motivation to improve. As long as I can do something, I will just cling on it."

"But you have great stability and control, so I am sure you can defeat them. You just need to work hard on your weakness."

"You don't need to persuade me. I am just a lazy person. If I work even harder, I will end up becoming the head of my family. It's too tiring, so I am planning to get my sister to become the head instead."

"To be a family head is an honor, you know."

"Nope. It's just a hassle." Evan shrugged and relaxed his body, resting his head on the cool table.

When they finally stopped talking, there was this sound ringing in his head.

*Tak*

*Tak*

*Tak*

"Ugh… Who is making the noises?" Evan gritted his teeth and rose from his seat.

"I believe it's coming from the opposite side. Probably behind the wall over there." The maid pointed at the white wall in the garden.

"Let's go there. If it's a servant, we should be able to ask them to stop making noises." Evan got annoyed and walked toward the wall.

The maid could only sigh and follow him.

When they peeked, they found a small girl pointing her small hand toward a target thirty meters away from her.

It was a small target tied on two trees with ropes.

Sweat covered her head and body, so she must be pretty tired. However, the girl didn't have a single thought of that. In fact, she was smiling this whole time as if she did something enjoyable.

"Who is she?" Evan narrowed his eyes. "I thought I learned all the names from the Fisher Family, but I didn't know her."

"She is the youngest daughter of the Fisher Family. According to the information, she is hidden from the outside world because she is a disgrace."

"A disgrace?" Evan tilted his head in confusion.

"Yeah. The rumor said that she is only an E rank magician and a low magic power. Hence, her future is limited."

"Seriously?" Evan widened his eyes in surprise before finding it difficult to swallow. "Why is she practicing like this then? Considering the Fisher Family is a big family, she will probably get married off somewhere to increase their reputation."

"I am not sure. But I agree with your opinion. She will probably become a political tool and lose her freedom to do something like this. In other words, everything she has learned so far will end up useless."

"Hmm… I don't understand. She must know about it as well, but she is training this hard while having that smile on her face. Is she a masochist?"

"As much as I would like to ask where you learn that word, I will refrain myself for the time being." The maid paused and glanced at Evan while twitching her eyebrows. "I think the suitable word for her will be a muscle brain."

"Still, how does she hit the target without fail this whole time? During our talk, she has fired a magic attack to the board thirty times, and yet, none has missed the target." Evan squinted his eyes before remembering a certain matter. "If I am not wrong, she is attending my school as well, right?"

"Yeah. She is in the class next to yours."

"Now that you mention it, there is a girl bullied in that classroom. That girl doesn't have a surname because her family doesn't permit her to bear that."

"Well, her condition is pretty complex." The maid didn't know where to start the explanation.

However, Evan had become impatient and walked toward her. "Let's go to her. I can ask her directly."

"Wait, Young Master. It's rud—"

"Hey, you! Why are you still practicing even though you have a poor talent? I can't comprehend."

'Haiz…' The maid facepalmed, thinking this would surely reach the family head's ears.

"You are rude, you know." The little Isabelle turned her head and pouted. She took a deep breath and bowed politely. "I am Isabelle Fisher. I presume you are the only son of Young Family, Evan Young, yes?"

Evan became even more patient and sighed. "And now you are trying to be polite… You know that you are going to be married off in the future, right? You are simply wasting your time on useless things like this. If I were you, I would enjoy myself to the fullest before my freedom is taken away."

"Hmph! It's because you have given up." Isabelle looked away before pointing at the wall from earlier. "If I want to walk to that wall, I need to take a first small step. Even if I can only take that step once a day, I will reach that wall after a few years. That's why I will not stop because I still believe I can reach my goal and get my freedom back. Besides, mommy and daddy are not evil like how you described them. Only those aunties and uncles that want to keep their image.

"Mommy and daddy are still proud of me and support me. That's why I don't want to burden them and purposely to not state my family name. I still believe I can reveal my name is Isabelle Fisher to the whole world in the future. For now, I am practicing my skill to prepare for that day."

"Do you think your father thinks of you like that? Take a look at your big brother, he is forced to marry my big sister despite his talent and strength. You cannot escape this fate as well."

"I have heard the rumor about you. If you are a bit more diligent, you have the ability to surpass most of your peers, especially with you showing the fastest growth currently. If I have your talent, I will become stronger… Strong enough to decide my own fate." Isabelle narrowed her eyes. "And don't talk bad about my parents. If in the end I still need to marry someone that they decide, I will comply because that's what I want."

"You…"

"What?!" Isabelle raised her hand, pointing her palm at him. "If you talk badly of my parents again, I will hit you with my magic."

"Hmph! Hit me then. I have seen your practice earlier, so I know that your magic doesn't pack any punch."

"Gnunu…" Isabelle gritted her teeth and shot it anyway.

"You are just daydreaming. I have shattered my own dream because I know my own talent. That's why I won't be disappointed as you do in the future. It's better if you abandon your dream and enjoy your life."

Isabelle looked even more ferocious before leaping toward him while shouting. "Noooo!"