It had only been twelve hours since the bandit raid, but it was time for Tinz’ first lesson. He sat in the clearing Laura had trained the day prior. He felt awkward being one of the few unscathed people there; even the elder fairy was bandaged heavily, with a sling upon his left arm. 

    

    “First,” the elder fairy started, “We have to learn your affinity, which magic you’re best at. That’s easy for fairies to do,” he said as he waved his uninjured arm over Tinz’ head. “Hmm…”

    Tinz sat heavily. He felt a warmth at his head, and his nerves only grew. “You seem to have an affinity for light magic. That’s convenient. That’s what healing is, after all.”

    “Yeah, I know, I just. Mm, never really did magic stuff, never had much mana,” Tinz shrugged. “My mana’s really low due to my illness.”

    “And what illness is that?” The elder fairy lowered his hand back to his side. Tinz shrunk into his spot.

    “I mean, I’ve been to doctors, they don’t know what’s wrong with me… they just know I kinda produce this weird black ooze– mainly like, coughing it up or a nosebleed or… I’unno. And I’m too… frail to do much.”

    As Tinz spoke, the elder fairy paced around. “I’m sorry, young one, I don’t know what that is either. But I do know you have just enough mana to manage healing, and since your affinity is light, it’ll come easier to you.”

    Tinz sighed. Was it relief? He couldn’t tell. “So, how do I get started?”

    “Do you know the fundamentals of magic?” The elder fairy asked. “It will come in handy.”

    “...I kinda got taken out of gym class, so I never learned much other than the fact I can’t use it practically.”

    The elder fairy scratched at his mustache. He then grabbed his cane and drew a circle in the dirt with various connecting circles. 

    “Every specialty magic has a sister magic, also known as its inherent weakness. Your affinity is light, therefore your weakness is darkness magic. Fire magic is also akin to light magic as it produces light, just as earth magic is akin to darkness magic as it can trap you underground in pure darkness. Or at least, that’s the easiest way to explain it,” he waved his cane around as he spoke. “You will start with basic healing, with this plant here. It has withered due to the stem being chewed on by a wild animal.”

    “...Okay, but how. Do I just, point this wand at it?” Tinz grabbed the wand out of his bag, the one given to him by the elder fairy.

    “Magic is all about visualization. Imagination in itself can be magic. Our minds, which are the core of our magical nervous system, produce the mana after all. It’s only natural our imagination is where the spells come from.”

    Tinz grimaced. He may have been taken out of gym classes and practical magic classes, but he did try reading up on visualization in an attempt to teach himself. It did nothing.

    “Since your mana is weak, you have to use a tool to harness the mana from your fingertips. Utilize the wand and visualize warmth that will harm no one enveloping the plant. Wrapping around it, becoming the new plant material for the bite marked wounds, and then finally finishing up with a ‘pop’!”

    Tinz truly was listening. He tried his best he really did. That was until the elder fairy’s explanation bordered inexplicably nonsensical and the light from the wand exploded, sending the plant and the pot it was in flying backwards. Smoke rose from the wand, along with smudged ashes on Tinz’ face.

    “Oh dear,” was all the elder fairy said. He waddled over to the pot to examine it.

    “For fuck’s– I tried, listen, I think I just, maybe I’m not cut out for this?” Tinz wiped the ashes off his face, the tears threatening to fall along with it.

    “Why I’ll be!” The elder exclaimed. “You did just fine!” he pulled up the plant into a sitting position. Its bite marks were gone, and if you squinted it even seemed to have grown a little in height.

    Tinz blinked. He blinked again, and again. “I did it?” he asked, voice soft.

    “You did it!” he said simply, giving Tinz a pat on the head that he could barely reach. “It looks like your studies will go smoothly from here on out. Let’s continue, shall we?”

    “...Yeah, I think that sounds good,” he said, standing up. “What’s next?”

    “A few more plants need healed, for your practice, but then we need to get going on the villagers. If your healing is already at a place where it can induce growth, it should be safe enough to use on cognizant species.”

    Tinz gulped.

    “Oh.”