The first few days of training were eye-opening to Rose. Faust had started teaching her the fundamentals of magic, expounding on what Vanessa had taught her previously.
"Now that the basics are out of the way, we'll get to spellcasting. Every spell has a pattern that must be weaved before casting it. Once you get better at using certain spells, you'll be able to weave mana in your mind instead of your hands. However, if you weave the mana incorrectly, you'll get a misfire or, in a worse case, a different spell entirely." Faust explains.
"What exactly is a misfire, and why is it better than getting a different spell?"
"In the majority of magical mishaps, a misfire is safer because it won't hurt you or anyone else if the spell misfires. Typically, the gathered mana would simply disperse itself back into nature when you misfire. In the case of accidentally casting another spell, there isn't a good way to predict what spell will cast, nor the effects of said spell."
"Yes, sir. Makes sense." Rose says as she scribbles his words onto a piece of paper.
"Good. Now I'll show you how to weave mana."
He starts by gathering a ball of mana in his hands. He touches the tips of his fingers to the ball, creating strings of light mana connecting his fingertips and the ball. He starts to weave the strings into the shape of an ax, casting the Weapon of Light spell. He grabs it, swings it around a couple of times, and then dismisses the spell, causing the ax to disperse itself.
"Your turn. Gather the mana in your hands and then imagine it changing into strings. After that, begin weaving it into the same pattern that I just did."
Rose follows his instructions as best she can, resulting in an ax made of light. This ax lacked a firm form and faded away quickly.
"Good first try, but next time, pull your threads a bit tighter."
She tries several more times, with numerous failed attempts. It wasn't until about an hour later that Faust realized something was wrong. She was troubled.
"Something on your mind?" He says while putting a hand on hers.
"No, everything's fine." She says while raising her hands, still attempting to focus on her training.
"I don't think either of us believes that. Take a break. Let's chat for a little while."
"Sure. How did you get so good at magic?" Rose says while dispersing the mana in her hands and turning to Faust.
"Hm… It's always come to me naturally. However, if I was ever baffled by anything magical, I could always ask my late master for help. I'd never gotten to see her full power, but every time I saw a glimpse of it, it was awe-inspiring. Even now, I still strive to become as great as her. She was an incredible magician and an even more incredible teacher."
"Who was your master if you don't mind me asking?"
"No use describing a person you already know."
She knew instantly. His master was one of the people she couldn't protect.
"I'm sorry. I couldn't help her either." Tears begin to well up in her eyes.
"You have nothing to apologize for."
"Yes I do! She died because I wasn't strong enough to stop Xander! I wasn't smart enough to catch on to Zero’s plan! I wasn’t good enough to see that Sera was a spy!" She stands up and shouts at him with tears streaming down her face.
"Everybody keeps saying everything's fine and that I shouldn't feel this way but… they just don't understand." Rose sits on a chair and puts her head down before teleporting out of the room and onto the rooftop.
She sits alone atop the stone walls that make up the palace's exterior. Overlooking the city, the orange sky grows redder as sunset approaches, slowly descending, making way for the rising moon.
What is wrong with me? Everyone has been so nice to me… Except me. They keep saying it's not my fault, but I just can't seem to accept it.
Is Faust right about me being strong? Can I really take pride in this "strength" he says I have? Even when it's not enough to save the people I love?
"Would you like to hear a story about Rex and Hiro?" Says Faust as he walks up behind her.
There was a glint in her eye when she heard that. No matter how she felt at that particular moment, one thing that she would never decline was a tale about the two people she admired most.
“Yeah, maybe it’ll help me clear my mind a bit.”
"While our first proper meeting was two months ago, I had met Hiro and Rex once before while I was training with Vanessa. Neither of them remembered me, but they both left a lasting impression on me. When I was 13, I trained with Vanessa in the palace of Rahu every other month for a few years. I was a natural talent, so most of her lessons were easy to digest, and I made steady yet impressive progress in magic and the studies surrounding it." He says while sitting down next to her.
"After leaving for a month and coming back, there were two children that started living there with her. It only took one look at them to tell something was off. Hiro and I made eye contact, and his glare froze me in place. His presence felt cold, dark, and unsettling. Before long, Rex stepped in between us and started talking to Hiro as if everything was normal. I used the opportunity to use my ether sight, and what I saw was astounding. It looked like Rex had four different abilities."
"Four different abilities? Doesn't he only have one?"
"I say four 'different' abilities, but they were just different shades of blue. I never quite figured it out. When I asked Vanessa, she said she had a working theory on it, but nothing concrete at that point."
Recalling everything she had learned about abilities and ether, Rose had an epiphany. She gets a big smile on her face and grabs Faust's shoulders.
"We can save them!"
"What exactly are you talking about?"
"Mr. Hiro and Mr. Rex! We just need to fix their souls!"
"Souls? Care to explain?"
"It's what Zero took from them. Before Ms. Vanessa passed, she told me about her ability and how it works. Through her ability, she found out that ether is energy made by a person's soul. Since her scythe directly attacks the soul, it also messes with that person's ether."
"Okay, I'm following your thought process so far, but how does this connect to Hiro and Rex?"
"Zero did the same thing to them that he did to Ms. Vanessa. He took their abilities. If I'm on the right track, a person's ability should also be a part of their soul. If Zero took their ability, that means they’re missing a part of their soul."
"So then it would be similar to Vanessa’s ability. It damages a person's soul, that would mean the body would go into a state of pseudo-ether exhaustion, except their ether would never replenish itself due to a part of their soul being completely removed, rather than simply drained. Am I getting it right?"
"Yes! So it would make sense that if we got their abilities back from Zero, they would wake up."
"Yes, that's sound enough logic. Only if Vanessa’s initial theory is correct. However, seeing as it took her decades to complete it, I would say there's a good chance of it being true."
"Oh and for Mr. Rex, the other abilities you saw in him were probably his water dragons. Ms. Vanessa said they could talk after a while and have a mind of their own, so I don't think it would be too crazy if they had their own souls."
They sat and talked for a while longer before going back inside. Once they're back inside, they pass by Aega. Faust asks her to show Rose to her room before returning to his own room.
"Hey, your name's Aega, right?"
"Yeah, what of it?"
"Oh, it's nothing. I heard from Lord Tyrol that you healed me earlier. Just wanted to say thank you."
"As much as I would like to say it was no problem, it was a massive hassle. I couldn't use my ability to heal you for some reason, so I had to use normal procedures and healing magic to fix you up. It was a real pain."
"O-oh… I'm sorry to hear that I caused you so much trouble. If you don't mind me asking, what is your ability, and why didn't it work?"
"It's pretty simple." She pulls out a scalpel from her coat pocket and makes a small knick in her forearm. She winces slightly at the pain before placing her hand over it. The blood that had started to trickle down from the wound seemingly retracted itself back into the cut before the cut sealed itself shut. It was as if the wound hadn't been there to begin with.
Rose instantly knew why it didn't work on her. Her resistance. She uses Ether Sight to look at Aega, and as expected, her ether was invisible.
"That's really something. I kinda wish I had an ability like that. To be able to fight without worrying about the damage I take… that’s definitely something…”
“You talk like you’re going to steal my ability.”
“Is that even possible?”
“Maybe. Lord Tyrol always says ‘magic is limitless in nature, but bound by the human mind.’ In theory, at least.”
“Huh, interesting…”
.
.
.
“Let’s give it one more try.” She whispers to herself.
She lays in bed, staring at the ceiling, before starting the spell. She gathers the mana in her hands and weaves it together, forming the Weapon of Light spell. She succeeds and grabs it, swinging it around the empty room. It was firm, sharp, and weightless.
197Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzL36kqM8ow
“Now let’s see if I can do that with dark mana.”
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