It was past dawn, when I have woken up. I sat up and looked around myself as if I was searching for something. Indeed, I was. The gentle rays of the Sun seeped through the crevices of the tent. It was a peaceful morning.
I was honestly shocked. I lived my life tormented by nightmares, but this morning was different.
There were none.
I rubbed my eyes as if to wake myself up, but it was no use. I was awake already. When I tried to move I felt something pulling on my shirt.
It was Tenna, still sleeping, but holding onto me like her life depended on it.
When did she?
"Mo-mother....." mumbled Tenna in her sleep.
Even when she is sleeping. What an honest girl. I thought to myself as I slowly made my way out of bed. The early morning air was crisp and fresh. I always liked the silence which was natural this early. Only that today I was greeted with a bunch of lovely birds chirping away happily.
I rarely heard them in the city, were they always this calming?
My thoughts got interrupted by an alluring voice greeting me.
"Somebody is an early riser." said the Empress as she was making her way towards me.
"Ah, Your Highness. I can't help it, I am used to waking up this early, though I have never slept this much." I said somewhat embarrassed.
"Sleeping with a girl does wonders, hm?" she said teasing me.
I honestly didn't know if it truly was, because of that fact, but it was way to embarrassing for me to think about. She saved me, but that is no reason to chase after someone, not that I could muster up the courage to ask out a demon anyway. I didn't even know how to.
"Well, uhm... maybe." I was at a loss of words.
"I'm just joking of course, don't take it too seriously." After short pause she continued. "Since you are up already how about we start your lessons in Magicology?" she asked with a warm smile.
"Magicology?"
"Well, the humans call it that, to me magic is simply magic. A means to an end."
After our small conversation we went deeper into the forest as not to trouble the camp. She lead me to a clearing, which was perfect for our practice.
"Okay, this will do. It might seem overwhelming, but I must cover a lot of things."
She then proceeded with a perfect lesson. She explained that there are multiple types of magic. From elven and dwarfen to mysterious white magic. Today's lesson only consisted of the four main types. Fire, Earth, Water and Wind.
She really emphasized that simple magic is not weak, it is easy to use and often overlooked. Given enough power, even the simple formulas can be overly destructive. Though, she is the only one who could cast something like that.
"The higher tiers are powerful too, but a lot of magical power is lost due to the complicated formula and thus is limited quite a lot. The trick is choosing your spells according to situation which requires a cool head and quick wits."
Listening to her was like sitting in a prestegious school. I was amazed how well she understood everything, her grasp about magic was something different.
"Now that you know some basics, let us start with the simplest version of spells, Common Magic. Quite a mundane name, but for us, it is sufficient.
I want you to hold out your hand and concentrate. You need to shut out your surroundings and become one with your inner self. Try to grasp the flow of magical energy withing yourself."
Inner self?
As I raised my hand, I closed my eyes. I didn't know how to concentrate on my inner self, but I tried to imagine my demon self. Would that work? I had to perceive myself half demon, half human.
Human on the outside, but demon on the inside.
A quick image flashed before me, but soon disappeared.
A person? Who was he?
When I opened my eyes a red circle was before my palm. It emitted a dim, soft light. There were small symbols around the edge and three bigger ones in the middle.
The Empress looked at me quite proud.
"Quite talented I see, I thought you would take at least a week, but look at you. The spell you are holding is a Fire type, Igniculus."
I looked at the circle with amazement, but then, it slowly started cracking and disappeared into small particles.
"I praised you a little too early, but even this was quite amazing. I haven't even told you to imagine a flame, yet you formed a perfect circle. Now let us start again. I wanted only to teach you to grasp the flow of magic. Making a spell out of nowhere just shows your talent."
"When I was trying to concentrate on my inner self, I saw someone." I said with unease.
"Hmm, I have never heard of such thing. Maybe, that is your demon self helping out."
She continued. "Let us do this again. Concentrate on your inner demon then, and imagine a small flame. Try to keep the little flame alive and burning."
As I closed my eyes I saw the boy again. He had black hair and crimson eyes. He smiled at me and disappeared. I wasn't as surprised now and when I opened my eyes a small black and crimson flame was flickering in my palm. I felt the warmth in my hand.
"Perfect, now try to throw it at that boulder. Showing it off won't save you in battle."
I looked at the giant boulder in the distance and wondered if it will do anything to it. I thrust my arm forward and the little flame shot out with incredible speed. But when it hit the boulder...
A giant fire engulfed the boulder and it exploded short moments afterward with a huge bang. The shockwave almost knocked me off my feet. Though, the Empress stood there unaffected.
As I called out to her she didn't react. I was getting concerned when she finally turned my way and out of a sudden grabbed my and.
"Tousa, this was outstanding! Such beautiful magical power has been unseen for generations!" she exclaimed in quite a bit of excitement. "Alright, if this went so well let us try another spell! This one is a wind type called Sceptos. I want you to imagine a gust, a sudden, brief rush of wind."
The Empress was all fired up... I honestly got overwhelmed by her enthusiasm, but I couldn't deny my own excitement. As I did before, I closed my eyes and held out my hand, the mental image appeared again, but now holding a whiteish blue magic circle. When I opened my eyes I was holding the very same one.
The Empress eagerly awaiting the result, I clenched my fist and thrust it forward releasing Sceptos. An incredibly strong gust of wind swiped through the clearing. Trees were falling over, uprooted and the fire from the earlier explosen went out completely.
"W-wow.." I stared at amazement.
The Empress clapped her hands together and called it a day for us. "You aren't used to realesing magic, I don't want you to over do it today. This was truly remarkable." She said with a bright smile.
As we made our way back to the camp the Empress started talking about Tenna. She truly seemed like a proud and, very, worried mother. She explained, that she found Tenna basically thrown away. She was barely alive, it was a true miracle that a baby her age survived until she found her.
She raised her as a demon, but in reality she had mixed blood. When I asked her why she was telling such a secret, her answer honestly surprised me.
"Both of you have an unfortunate fate, mine was similar. Whenever I look at you, knowing your background, I feel an urge to take care of you the same way as of Tenna. Might probably feels the same way. She was so stressed before her mission and it almost went terribly wrong, but out of a sudden she was saved. She might deny it, but she does feel incredibly grateful. I told her not to worry, but I think she would use any method to please me."
I listened in silence.
Our day ended with me using two types of spells. In the evening I was interrogated by Tenna how it was. I told her everything. She listened in silence, but her expression had a tinge of sadness to it. 71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlNe4Ea5d26
I wondered why...71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3WvxOvqhaL
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