“Your mana guidance was spot on. Good try. Move onto water.” Teacher told me. I have been practicing like this for the last three years. Thanks to that I have a lot of magic skills, but they would never have paid off without Brian. But I need to focus on the lesson.
“Water, Flow before me, Aqua Stream.” I try to cast a water spell. Again, it does nothing.
“Good. Now earth.” My teacher pushes me through our routine. Trying to cast all these spells is how I got the quick cast skill, so it’s not a complete waste, but it really is demoralizing. If father didn’t force me to keep going, I would have quit long ago.
“Stone, become my weapon, Stone Toss.” Of course, nothing.
“I think the ground might have moved a bit there.” Teacher said.
“Please don’t lie to me. I know it didn’t.” Even if my mother is good at earth magic, it doesn't mean I am.
“I was just… Well, wind is next.” Teacher said. I know you are trying. You don’t want to lose this job. I don’t know how much father is paying you, but I’m sure it’s a lot.
“Wind, flow around me, Breeze.” My father can use wind magic. But I can’t. I also really just hate it. Father always said that I should be able to use it like my brother can, like he can and like aunt can. But I just can’t. And I never want to.
“Ooh, do you feel that breeze?” Teacher said.
“That’s just the wind. A spell would do more.” Again he is trying something stupid. We both know I didn’t activate a spell.
“Let’s just try light and dark as well. Light first.” He said.
“Sure. Light, luminate around me, Shine ball.” And nothing. Well, next is the important one.
“And dark last.”
I know I can do this. Brian told me he gave me the dark attribute. And I trust that he wouldn’t lie. He has no reason to. I focus all my skills to cast this one spell. I know I will succeed. No one can stop me. I will black out the sun. I close my eyes and focus.
“Dark, embrace us, Shade!” I shout out. I can feel the difference in my body. The flow of magic is different from all those failed spells. I did it, right? I slowly open my eyes.
It’s nice and shady. The bright yard we were in is now covered in darkness. I can still see clearly though.
This really is a success. I bask in my glory. I really did black out the sun. At least from the yard.
—
Alice was casting spells of each attribute one by one. Why does she go through all of them, instead of just jumping to dark magic? All of them have failed this far, but next up is dark magic. I really hope she can do it. I don’t want to crush her dreams… Again.
Alice casts her dark magic spell with a lot more enthusiasm than any of the previous spells. She even yelled out the last word of the chant. Wonder if that is something like an activation word?
Then the world goes dark. I look back at the table and can’t even see it. Is this really Alice’s spell?
(Laura?)
(Yes, this darkness is because of the shade spell cast by Alice. I believe it has encompassed the entire manor.) Laura told me.
(How long will it last?) I asked.
(Until the caster dispels it or runs out of mana. Or someone else dispels it. Master could do it with Gust or Mystical Space Typhoon.) Laura told me. I’m not going to waste one of them on this.
“ALICE!” I yell out. “You need to dispel this darkness.”
(Master, she won’t hear you. This darkness will also block sound.) Laura told me.
(What can I do then? Other than waste a card or just waiting around?) I ask her.
(If you get close to Alice, she will be able to hear you.) Laura said.
(Can you guide me to her?)
(Of course, Master.)
I get up from the table and follow Laura’s instructions in the dark. It’s like a blindfold game. Well, except that I don’t think anyone can see anything.
(Two more steps, Master.) Laura told me. I take the two steps and try to grab Alice. Please God, don’t let me grab her boob.
Thankfully, what I found was her hugging me. She came to me as well and hugged me. Isn’t she blinded by this darkness?
(Dark magic spells like this have less of an effect on the caster. She might not have heard your scream, but she could see you.) Laura told me. So she might have thought that others had similar experience to her.
“Alice, do you hear me? You need to dispel this darkness.” I tell her while in her embrace.
“But why?” She asked. “It’s just a little dark and it’s my first successful spell. I want to enjoy it longer.”
“Alice, no one else can see anything. And this darkness is even preventing sound from traveling long distances. You need to dispel it or everyone will panic even more.” I said to her.
“But… you could see me.” She said carefully.
“I can’t see you Alice. Laura helped me through the darkness. Please, dispel it.” I pled with her.
“Fine. If you really ask me like that.” Alice lets me go and the shadows begin to lift.
As the light returns I look around. Jenna, who was standing close to the table I was sitting at, seemed to be frozen. Alice’s teacher is passed out on the ground. I walk over to him to make sure he is fine. I put my fingers on his neck and felt a pulse. Then I check for breathing, and that seems fine as well.
(Laura, do you have any idea?)
(He seems to have run out of mana, while trying to dispel Alice’s shade.) Laura told me.
(Can I help him recover? Like giving him some of my own mana?) I asked her.
(Yes, please hold your hand on his chest. I will take care of the rest.) Laura said to me. I did as I was told. I could feel some of my mana flowing out of my hand on the teacher’s chest. I hope he is receiving it.
“Brian, what are you doing?” Alice asked me.
“I’m giving some mana to your teacher. He passed out after running out trying to dispel your spell.” I told her.
“...But… He is a lot more skilled than I am. How could he run out?” Alice asked.
“I don’t know. But he did. You may have been too eager to use magic and just put too much power into that one spell.” I answered.
(Sir Trystan uses the water attribute. It struggles with dispelling dark spells.) Laura informed me.
(How do you know that?) I asked her. Can she appraise people?
(I can tell because of Master’s mana flowing into him. Master’s mana has no attributes, so it changes as it enters his body. Normally you can’t give people with a different main attribute mana like this, but since Master doesn’t have one, it’s fine.) Laura told me.
After a little longer, she stopped the mana stream. By feeling alone, I had used up little over half of my mana. Not as bad as to pass out, but definitely would not want to sprint right now.
(Master, you used 73% of your mana.)
Thank you Laura. What would I do without your statistics?
“Your mana guidance was spot on. Good try. Move onto water.” Teacher told me. I have been practicing like this for the last three years. Thanks to that I have a lot of magic skills, but they would never have paid off without Brian. But I need to focus on the lesson.
“Water, Flow before me, Aqua Stream.” I try to cast a water spell. Again, it does nothing.
“Good. Now earth.” My teacher pushes me through our routine. Trying to cast all these spells is how I got the quick cast skill, so it’s not a complete waste, but it really is demoralizing. If father didn’t force me to keep going, I would have quit long ago.
“Stone, become my weapon, Stone Toss.” Of course, nothing.
“I think the ground might have moved a bit there.” Teacher said.
“Please don’t lie to me. I know it didn’t.” Even if my mother is good at earth magic, it doesn't mean I am.
“I was just… Well, wind is next.” Teacher said. I know you are trying. You don’t want to lose this job. I don’t know how much father is paying you, but I’m sure it’s a lot.
“Wind, flow around me, Breeze.” My father can use wind magic. But I can’t. I also really just hate it. Father always said that I should be able to use it like my brother can, like he can and like aunt can. But I just can’t. And I never want to.
“Ooh, do you feel that breeze?” Teacher said.
“That’s just the wind. A spell would do more.” Again he is trying something stupid. We both know I didn’t activate a spell.
“Let’s just try light and dark as well. Light first.” He said.
“Sure. Light, luminate around me, Shine ball.” And nothing. Well, next is the important one.
“And dark last.”
I know I can do this. Brian told me he gave me the dark attribute. And I trust that he wouldn’t lie. He has no reason to. I focus all my skills to cast this one spell. I know I will succeed. No one can stop me. I will black out the sun. I close my eyes and focus.
“Dark, embrace us, Shade!” I shout out. I can feel the difference in my body. The flow of magic is different from all those failed spells. I did it, right? I slowly open my eyes.
It’s nice and shady. The bright yard we were in is now covered in darkness. I can still see clearly though.
This really is a success. I bask in my glory. I really did black out the sun. At least from the yard.
—
Alice was casting spells of each attribute one by one. Why does she go through all of them, instead of just jumping to dark magic? All of them have failed this far, but next up is dark magic. I really hope she can do it. I don’t want to crush her dreams… Again.
Alice casts her dark magic spell with a lot more enthusiasm than any of the previous spells. She even yelled out the last word of the chant. Wonder if that is something like an activation word?
Then the world goes dark. I look back at the table and can’t even see it. Is this really Alice’s spell?
(Laura?)
(Yes, this darkness is because of the shade spell cast by Alice. I believe it has encompassed the entire manor.) Laura told me.
(How long will it last?) I asked.
(Until the caster dispels it or runs out of mana. Or someone else dispels it. Master could do it with Gust or Mystical Space Typhoon.) Laura told me. I’m not going to waste one of them on this.
“ALICE!” I yell out. “You need to dispel this darkness.”
(Master, she won’t hear you. This darkness will also block sound.) Laura told me.
(What can I do then? Other than waste a card or just waiting around?) I ask her.
(If you get close to Alice, she will be able to hear you.) Laura said.
(Can you guide me to her?)
(Of course, Master.)
I get up from the table and follow Laura’s instructions in the dark. It’s like a blindfold game. Well, except that I don’t think anyone can see anything.
(Two more steps, Master.) Laura told me. I take the two steps and try to grab Alice. Please God, don’t let me grab her boob.
Thankfully, what I found was her hugging me. She came to me as well and hugged me. Isn’t she blinded by this darkness?
(Dark magic spells like this have less of an effect on the caster. She might not have heard your scream, but she could see you.) Laura told me. So she might have thought that others had similar experience to her.
“Alice, do you hear me? You need to dispel this darkness.” I tell her while in her embrace.
“But why?” She asked. “It’s just a little dark and it’s my first successful spell. I want to enjoy it longer.”
“Alice, no one else can see anything. And this darkness is even preventing sound from traveling long distances. You need to dispel it or everyone will panic even more.” I said to her.
“But… you could see me.” She said carefully.
“I can’t see you Alice. Laura helped me through the darkness. Please, dispel it.” I pled with her.
“Fine. If you really ask me like that.” Alice lets me go and the shadows begin to lift.
As the light returns I look around. Jenna, who was standing close to the table I was sitting at, seemed to be frozen. Alice’s teacher is passed out on the ground. I walk over to him to make sure he is fine. I put my fingers on his neck and felt a pulse. Then I check for breathing, and that seems fine as well.
(Laura, do you have any idea?)
(He seems to have run out of mana, while trying to dispel Alice’s shade.) Laura told me.
(Can I help him recover? Like giving him some of my own mana?) I asked her.
(Yes, please hold your hand on his chest. I will take care of the rest.) Laura said to me. I did as I was told. I could feel some of my mana flowing out of my hand on the teacher’s chest. I hope he is receiving it.
“Brian, what are you doing?” Alice asked me.
“I’m giving some mana to your teacher. He passed out after running out trying to dispel your spell.” I told her.
“...But… He is a lot more skilled than I am. How could he run out?” Alice asked.
“I don’t know. But he did. You may have been too eager to use magic and just put too much power into that one spell.” I answered.
(Sir Trystan uses the water attribute. It struggles with dispelling dark spells.) Laura informed me.
(How do you know that?) I asked her. Can she appraise people?
(I can tell because of Master’s mana flowing into him. Master’s mana has no attributes, so it changes as it enters his body. Normally you can’t give people with a different main attribute mana like this, but since Master doesn’t have one, it’s fine.) Laura told me.
After a little longer, she stopped the mana stream. By feeling alone, I had used up little over half of my mana. Not as bad as to pass out, but definitely would not want to sprint right now.
(Master, you used 73% of your mana.)
Thank you Laura. What would I do without your statistics?
