I went to sleep after my late night talk with Rudd, she did the same for her part. When I got back to my room, I changed my clothes and reflected a bit on some issues: how she was consumed by her insecurities, how she made me realize mine, and how indecipherable the future is that awaits us all. But it was only about five minutes of reflection before sleep took over.
It's still early, very early, but going to sleep is not an option since a certain situation made me lose the will to sleep. Yes, this situation is something I didn't expect, how did this happen?
Next to me is Rudd in a pair of pajamas, somewhat revealing, sleeping peacefully. It's not the first time something like this has happened to me, in my other life I had certain experiences, but for some reason I can't calm down, the feeling is totally different.
It's been ten minutes since I woke up, she's holding my arm which is making it difficult to get up.
Okay, here's the plan: pull my arm out slowly, don't make any noise when I get up and run away, all without waking her up. Okay, let's go! I try to withdraw my arm slowly but it's stuck, it won't let go. How much strength does this girl have? I try harder, but stop myself as she moves a little. Shit, what can I do now?
I continue to scheme ideas in my head until they all go into the trash in a single instant. The door to my room suddenly opens; a figure enters very animated and starts talking in a somewhat loud tone of voice.
"Good morning, Ray! It's early yet, but I think training as soon as possible would be best," Asara said as her voice slowly diminished with each word that came out of her mouth.
I don't know what to do or say in this situation, I just stare silently at Asara with a poker face. For her part, she just contemplates the situation in silence with much bewilderment.
"Eeeh, sorry. I think I'm interrupting..." Asara added before she was interrupted.
"Why is it so noisy at this hour?" asked Mom from behind Asara with a pillow in her right hand and rubbing her eyes with her left. "Asara, why so much noise...?"
Now they both have the same puzzled faces. And more and more the situation is slipping out of my control, even though it never was in the first place. I have to do something about it.
A yawn echoes in the room.
"Mmm, what's wrong? Why are there so many people in the room? It's too early yet," Rudd said half asleep.
Seconds after that sentence he goes back to sleep. Please don't fall asleep. Help me explain!
□ □ □
After that strange situation, Rudd was forcibly taken by mom and Asara to her room to change clothes, I did the same and then went down to breakfast. We are at the kitchen table all together having breakfast. Everything is the same as always, it was just one more funny episode in my new life with my new family.
After a very energetic breakfast, full of smiles and discussing who is going to sleep with me tonight, it's time to train.
We are in the courtyard right now, my tutor and me.
"Asara, what are we going to learn today?"
"Saraa told me about what you did here a while ago," Asara said with great interest. "I want you to repeat it, if possible, please."
"Sure, no problem."
I remember how I did it the first time, I concentrate on the mana around me, accumulate it in my right hand and then imagine a small fireball, smaller than the previous one. A ball of fire, the size of a soccer, emerges in the palm of my hand.
"Not bad, but according to what Saraa said it was much bigger last time," Asara commented a little disappointed. "Well, it's a start..."
"I can make it bigger," I said interrupting her abruptly, "I just didn't want it to get out of my control like last time."
After those words I concentrate even more, close my eyes and accumulate more mana in my right hand, the fireball starts to grow. I don't think about a limit, or how much mana I am accumulating, I just continue.
"Stop! Stop Rayzel!"
Someone is shouting, but I can barely hear it. I open my eyes and see Asara a few meters away from me, I'm sure she was closer a few seconds ago. Contemplating the panorama better: it's very hot and a huge fireball is over my head, trees and plants around me are completely burned, a large perimeter of the lawn I'm on is more of the same.
"Don't make any sudden moves. Throwing that fireball may bring more inconvenience than solution," Asara said cautiously. "What I'm going to ask you to do is to dissolve that mana and undo the spell."
"How do I do that?" I said totally confused and very nervous.
"It's not something very complicated, just in your mind visualize how the fireball slowly shrinks and how the mana returns to your hand. Focus especially on the mana, it's the essential part."
"I understand, I'll give it a try."
I visualize the fireball slowly shrinking as the mana returns to my right hand. At first it doesn't work, but a few seconds later I notice that the heat in the air is dissipating. It works. At that moment, I close my fist ending the process. The fireball is gone and only mana is in my hand.
"That's called 'pure mana'," Asara said after coming closer and pointing in the direction of my hand. "Wow, I didn't expect this at all, I'm sorry I underestimated you. You can dissolve very easily and accumulate absurd amounts of mana, it's amazing."
"One doubt, what can I do with the pure state mana besides spells?" I asked curiously looking at my hand.
"You can do some things, for example: a barrier of mana that covers your whole body, activate and strengthen magical weapons, amplify your senses for a certain time, repair your soul, among other things. The main use of mana is to cast spells and magic spells, which is what we do first," Asara continued. "But it can also be used in other areas, such as research or construction. The previous four examples I gave you are the main ones as far as combat is concerned, but if you want to learn to put mana to different uses I can teach you."
"A mana barrier, activating and strengthening magic weapons, amplifying your senses for a certain amount of time, and repairing your soul? What do you mean by the latter?" I said counting each technique on my fingers.
"It's a bit difficult to explain, the soul is something complex and even more so when we hardly know about it. I'll try to simplify it," said Asara scratching her head. "As you must know, every living being has a soul: be it human, elf, dragonnewt, dwarf, among others. Every living being has a soul, that rule has no exception. Explaining that, there are attacks that can damage your soul, so with mana you can heal or repair it, up to a certain point. There is a point at which there is no return, that is, if your soul does not recover you die."
"How do you know what that 'point of no return' is? What is that magic that can damage the soul? Who can use it?"
"Calmly, we seem to be getting a little ahead of ourselves, or rather, a lot ahead. First you have to focus on the basics, then scale little by little. I see that accumulating mana isn't a problem, you already know the steps to cast spells, so now it's your turn to teach yourself how to control that mana and be creative with it."
"You're right, I'm sorry. I'm too excited and instead of walking I want to run."
"Don't worry, I'm not going to scold a child for wanting to learn," Asara replied smiling. "Good, now let's start with your first task. The first thing I ask you to do is: create a fireball with the mana you still have in your right hand, but this time don't close your eyes or visualize it too much, try to visualize it quickly and then throw it at me. Don't overdo it."
"Will you be all right? I don't want to hurt you."
"Do. Don't underestimate me, or I'll get sad," Asara replied wryly. "A word of advice, do your best to associate the word fireball with an image created by you of a fireball. Doing so by just thinking the word, and if you have mana in your body, will make the spell faster and more efficient."
"Thanks for the advice. Here I go."
I quickly think of the word fireball and with the accumulated mana in my right hand I throw it at Asara. A small fireball, the size of a soccer ball, shoots towards Asara and hits her body.
"Asara, are you okay?"
I ran out in his direction to check on his situation.
"Hey, I told you not to underestimate me. I'm not that weak, although compared to the others in this house I am. My job isn't that I'm strong, though."
A grimace of disappointment appears on Asara's face.
"It was a good start, now you know how to cast your first spell perfectly. With this foundation you'll be able to learn and perfect a few others."
"The fact that we are dragonnewt gives us a lot of freedom when it comes to fire magic, unlike humans we don't have to recite any spells, in that we have an advantage."
"True, but unlike them we can only use one element out of the six possible ones. We could call it balance, I suppose," Asara said with a hint of frustration in her voice. "There's also the fact that humans are getting more and more advanced in their magical research, to the point of reciting an incantation in just a few words."
"You're somewhat envious of them, aren't you?" I asked looking into her eyes.
"You could say yes. My job is to study magic, especially fire magic, but my research will one day have a limit. Instead, they have several elements to study and the possible connections between them makes for so many possibilities and so much to research. It's a pity that there are no more hybrid dragonnewt, with just one of them it would be possible to broaden the horizon of my research."
"Not a single one here in Ahstel?" Ask again.
"There is not a single one in the world, they all died in the Great 100 Years War."
"Are you sure about that? One may have survived and escaped to another realm."
"It's possible, but who knows where he'll be," Asara replied, looking toward the horizon.
"Ever thought of leaving the kingdom and looking for him on your own?"
Silence. Asara doesn't answer my question, it's as if I never asked her. She is completely stunned.
"My life was always in Ahstel, in the palace working for the King's Council. They took me in and taught me everything I know, they need my help. I have never considered any other life but this one."
"It might be time to think more about what you want and not what they want from you."
His face is one of total surprise, I may have opened my mouth too wide. I always forget that I'm five years old here.
"You may be right," Asara said with some melancholy in her voice.
"I am no one to tell another person what to do with their life, take what I told you as an exchange for the advice you gave me."
"Well, enough thinking and beating around the bush. Let's continue with the lesson," Asara replied, putting those thoughts out of her head and looking at me with a lot of doubts. "Keep practicing with the fireball, gradually increase its size and speed. Get used to it and then repeat it until it gets engraved in your brain."
And so the lesson continued until hours later.
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