Chapter 4: A Lesson in Magic
It was my second day at the Eastern Cathedral. To think so much had happened in only a day. Getting lost in that forest, being separated from my brother, and joining this Cult. It was a lot to take in so soon. I had a dream that night. I was back in the forest with my brother. His face was obscured by a dark shadow, but his voice I could hear clearly.
"R-, R-, Let's play!" Part of his speech was distorted, but I could clearly hear him asking me to play. The shadow twirled around in circles with its arms stretched outward jumping up and down up and down.
"Let's play hide and seek! You hide and I'll come find you!" Don't do it.
I told myself no. I told myself to refuse his request. I didn't even notice the words escaping my lips, "Okay!" Suddenly the forest began to crumble around me, and it was replaced by stone walls. Another shadow appeared before me, this time a woman. Her hair was platinum, and the eyes of the shadow were an ocean of blue. Her presence felt like it demanded my attention as if the world itself was watching her with bated breath. The shadow stretched its arms out towards me and called out, "Deneb." It beckoned me forward into its arms. I couldn't refuse that I was being dragged from the front and pushed from the back simultaneously.
Two items appeared in the shadow's hands: A book and a small box. I had already grabbed both before I knew it. The box faded away and the shadow it made entered my body. The book made its way into my cloak. The arms of the shadow wrapped themselves around my body, holding me close, holding me tightly, so tightly as to never let me go.
"Deneb…" It called to me.
"Deneb…" I could melt into it and stay there forever.
"Deneb!" I jolted upwards and smacked my head into something hard and fleshy.
"Oww… Guess that's what I get for trying to wake you up." Rubbing her forehead above me was Prylla. She gave me a warm smile as she checked my forehead. "Looks like you're alright, you must've had a scary dream. You were thrashing in your sleep."
"Oh, I'm sorry."
"It's alright, are you hungry? I brought your breakfast to you." Prylla pointed at my desk where my meal was waiting for me.
"Mmmm… It's so goooood!" There were long strips of bacon, fried eggs along with two sausage links and a slice of bread. I scarfed down the food with lightning speed and enjoyed the warm sensation that filled my small stomach.
"Thank you, I prepared it myself." Prylla puffed out her chest with pride. "Well, are you ready to begin your first day of lessons? I don't expect to make much progress today as I suspect this will be the first time you've ever used your gate."
"Gate? What's a gate?"
"A Gate draws mana into a body as well as expels it out, functioning as a kind of faucet for magical energy." She made a circle with her hand and sucked air through it, then exhaled deeply as if to demonstrate the function. "Everyone is born with a gate, but not everyone can use magic. To use any sort of magic you must have an affinity for one of the elements. There are a total of four main elements that are quite common as well as two additional categories which are incredibly rare. The four main categories include Fire, Water, Wind, and Earth." She raised one of her fingers as she listed out each element. "The last two are Shadow and Light."
"So, what's my aff- affin- affinity?"
"Let me check." She placed her thumb on my forehead with the rest of her hand wrapping around my head. Her finger felt cold as it touched me causing me to flinch a little on contact. After a few seconds the spot where her thumb was beginning to heat up and I could feel something reacting in my body. A few moments later she removed her thumb and I waited for her answer with bated breath.
"Shadow."
"Ohhh, is that good? Am I gonna become the bestest shadow mage ever?"
"Hahaha, it's far too soon to say how skilled you'll be. Shadow magic is one of the rarest affinities and as such there are very few who are skilled in it. The shadow mage in the cult still can't use anything greater than El level spells, and it's been over twenty years since he began learning. Most people would be able to cast at least one Al level spell by that point. Ah I realized I hadn't told you much about spells yet. Spells are broken up into four categories, the base incantation, El plus the base, Ul plus the base, and Al plus the base. So, a simple spell I can cast is called Fura which is a wind magic spell that creates blades of wind to cut targets. If I wanted to cast a stronger version of it, I would simply add El, Ul, or Al in front of the word Fura. So, El Fura for example."
"Ahh… that makes sense." No, it didn't. I didn't get it at all.
"Let's head to the training hall. You might remember it from the other day." Prylla stood up.
"Wait… the one that brought me to the room the other day, was you?"
"Well of course. I did say that very few people know of our lady's existence." She smiled back at me while offering out her hand.
I took her hand and let her lead me to the same room I peeked my head inside the other day. There were a few cultists in the room already who stopped what they were doing when I entered the room and bowed to me. They rose and removed their hoods revealing the same group I met yesterday. Faust was standing in the front with Sergei, Fogg, and Sado behind him. It was like he was the leader of his own merry band.
"Oh, Lady Archbishop, come to begin training, have we?" Faust said with a grin.
"Yep! I'll do my best!"
"Don't even think about it. You're not training her, Faust. I've seen what you've put your poor, 'disciples,' through already. Besides, you don't have the right affinity anyway." Prylla interrupted.
"I highly doubt the esteemed Archbishop would have any trouble with anything I throw at her."
"That doesn't change the fact that she is quite young." Prylla was beginning to sound oddly motherly, not that I really minded. I haven't known her very long, but she's been nice enough so far.
"What is her affinity anyway?" Sergei chimed in.
"Shadow, which means you're going to handle her magic lessons." Prylla pointed directly at Sergei. His face lit up in surprise as he pointed at himself as if he was asking her if he heard her correctly which she replied with a nod and a smile.
"Well then it looks like I'm going to be busy for a while then." Sergei turned towards Faust.
"If she progresses quickly enough, I'd like to bring her on our next expedition. Field experience is worth a thousand practice swings after all." Faust replied.
"You mean 'that' expedition!?" Prylla yelped.
"Hmm? Are you doubting the Lady now? Lord Archbishop would have your head for that."
"Hnk- Alright, but only if she can beat you in a one-on-one duel prior to departure." Prylla demanded.
"What are you? Her mother? If she wants to come, then she can come! Actually… I like those conditions. I accept." Faust's grin widened even further.
I didn't really know what to make of it. A one-on-one duel? Why would I want to fight with him? I don't want to disappoint anyone, so I'll just have to do my best.
"Alright enough of this. Sado! Fogg! We need to get going!" Faust commanded as the three left the training room which left just Prylla, Sergei, and I.
"I already gave her the basic explanation, so all that's left is for her to use her gate for the first time." Prylla explained to Sergei. I still have no idea what she was talking about during that, but maybe actually doing it will clear up my misunderstandings.
"Hah- Shadow magic, huh." Sergei looked like he died inside, just a little though. "The most basic Shadow spell is Shamak. It's a spell that blinds opponents, it's not very useful against people though. Would you like to see it?" I nodded, 'yes,' back to him.
"Ser-!" Prylla tried to yell out.
"Well then, Shamak!" He raised his hand and swiftly lowered it and the second those words left his lips I was thrust into a world of darkness. I could still feel the ground below my feet, but all my other senses were gone. I tried moving my arms, but my entire body felt numb as if I was only a pair of legs and nothing more. I tried to look out ahead of myself but was met with an endless sea of inky darkness. Something began to take shape before my eyes, the shadows twisting and turning into the visage of a woman. Platinum hair and azure eyes, its arms stretched outwards closer, closer, ever closer. I used the only sense I had left to walk towards it. I needed to reach it and I stepped closer and closer. I kept walking forward and then…
"Fura!" The shadows around me were dispersed by blades of wind.
"Ooh ow…" I bumped into something right and fell as my senses returned to me. Looking up I saw the training dummy that they were using earlier. Prylla ran over to check on me when she turned towards Sergei.
"Are you stupid!?" She yelled at him.
"Ehh… sorry about that my Lady." Sergei scratched the back of his head as he turned to me. "That aside, what did you think?"
"That was sooo cool!" I jumped up. "So, you're telling me I can do that too?" I asked with a childlike sparkle in my eyes.
"You sure can! It probably won't be as effective as mine, but with a lot of hard work I'm sure you'll get there." Sergei gave me a thumbs up while Prylla glared at him. "Let's head to the center of the room and try it out." Sergei placed his hand on the back of my head and guided me to the center point of the room. Once there he had me turn around and face the training dummies while he stood behind me placing his hands on my shoulders. "To cast magic, you first need to feel your gate, but since this is your first time, I'll be helping you circulate your mana. Now, all you need to do is visualize the flow of mana through your gate then chant the incantation."
"Okay!" I looked forward and closed my eyes and pointed my hand at the training dummies. There was a small white hold at the end of a large corridor of darkness. I could see shadows surrounding me as I tried to push them through the hole slowly. My body began to feel hot, and the warmth began to move throughout my body and concentrate somewhere near my stomach. "Shamak."
"I expected this." Sergei let out a sigh as the hot feeling burst out of me suddenly and the entire room was filled with inky black smoke. I could feel myself hit the ground, but the rest of my senses were vague to me.
"Fura!" Blades of wind dispelled the smoke. "Yeah, as I expected. Your gate has never been used before. You'll have to rest for the rest of the day, and we won't be able to practice again for about three days." Prylla stood above me as she spoke, but I wasn't listening. My entire body was exhausted; I felt like all the energy drained itself from me at once. My eyes began to drift shut as the exhaustion overtook me.