"Let me try?" Lin Ye looked at the wand that Mostima handed to him, "What do you mean?"
"Literally." Mostima smiled at her, "Try to use Arts."
"But, I can't use Arts," Lin Ye said, "My adaptability for it is very low. It is none existent."
"Oh?" Mostima asked, "Did Rhodes Island tell you this after they did a checkup with you?"
"Along those lines." Lin Ye nodded helplessly, "They told me that I really can't use Arts."
He did not know what the requirements of being able to use Arts were, however he did know that the person needs to have at least a bit of Originium in their body to let them use Arts. Ln Ye fell short in this regard. He did not have a single particle of Originium in his body.
In defense, people would gladly killed to be in his situation of not worrying about being infected. It just said for a person Lin Ye that came from a world where some sort of magic exists and he wasn't able to use it.
But like everything that was happening to him in this world, he was just unlucky and he couldn't use any type of Arts.
It was a pity, he couldn't summon fireballs and rain it all over his enemies..
He would love to have the ability of throwing a meteor at his enemies.
He really wanted to hold his hands up and slammed a huge fireball at his enemies like Skyfire.
You can't tell him that doesn't sound cool?!
But sadly, he couldn't use any Arts at all with how his body was in this world.
Although he learned some form of self-defense from Skadi, it was not good enough. His body was so weak compared to other people in this world.
Even with Wave Leaping Strike and Maple, he would have a hard time to beat anyone in a real fair fight.
Wave Leaping Strike had a downside, a time limit. After he used that skill up, he could barely hold a sword in his hand leaving him as an easy target. Even if he had a weapon like Maple on him, it was useless if he couldn't land a hit on his enemy.
With that, he thought that if he knew some Arts, it would help him a bit. Even if he will never be the best in Arts, as long as it could assist him in combat, he was already very satisfied.
And having superpowers was cool. Any person should have fantasized about the idea of being able to do magical things once in their life.
Mostima put her wands on the table. One was black while the other was white. In his opinion, they fit her style.
"Being able to use Arts is like having a talent," Mostima explained, "Some people have an advantage while others don't. However it doesn't mean they can never use it though."
Lin Ye agreed with her but in his case it was a bit different. He had something that prevented him from having Originium in his body.
However, he could not just tell Mostima about the "cell" thing.
Lin Ye just needed to give her a vague explanation about his situation. She was trying to help him so the least he could do was to cooperate with her.
"I really can't use Arts," He explained to her as he placed his hand on her wands, "There is something that is preventing me from using Arts."
Warfarin did suggest a way to let him use Arts.
Shoving in a chunk of Originium into his body.
She did give him a compelling reason. He won't be infected by Oripathy if he did that too.
However...
The idea of an alien rock that could give him a cancer equivalent disease shoved into his body was not something that he liked..
As Lin Ye was busy thinking, Mostima thought up something.
She slowly raised her hand.
"In that case, let me try something."
"Try something?" Lin Ye said in a puzzled manner, "Try what?"
"Hold my hand," Mostima told Lin Ye.
… Am I being asked to touch a girl again?
Lin Ye's mouth twitched slightly, "Why?"
"Let me examine your body," Mostima said with a smile, "To be honest, I am very sensitive in this regard. Some people have said that my Arts sensory skills are amongst the best. I can feel Originium in their body and get a feel if they can use Arts or not."
"Is that so? But it's still useless to me." Lin Ye shook his head, "The only possible way for me to be able to use Arts was to plant a pure Originium chunk in my body. I don't want to waste your effort and time."
Mostima blinked and laughed.
"So, in other words," She smiled at him, "You don't trust me?"
"..." Lin Ye sighed at this, "How could even come up with that?"
"If you trust me, wouldn't you let me hold your hand?" Mostima asked as she held her hand in front of him, "Trust me."
Lin Ye was silent at this.
Looking at Mostima's blue eyes, he sighed and he stretched out his hand in a ghostly manner. He placed his hand in Mostima's.
Her hand felt cold but not in a bad way. It was soothing in a way.
He realized something about him and Mostima.
Why were they acting like this?
They only knew each other for less than two days so why were they so comfortable with each other?
Why did he trust her? And why was she helping him so much now?
This was not something people do on a whim.
What's more abnormal was that Lin Ye didn't even think there was anything wrong with how they were acting.
Am I weak against girls?
Then he remembered all of this encounter before.
… Maybe.
Looking at Mostima's slightly frowned brows, it was as if she was thinking about something very seriously, Lin Ye felt a strange feeling in his heart as he stared at her.
It was like he and Mostima did not meet only yesterday. Like they had known each other for many years.
This felt strange for him.
Is this an angel's ability? Or is it a demon's.
About five minutes later, Mostima finally let go of Lin Ye's hand. She seemed to hesitate before doing so though.
"Your body is indeed a bit strange, I could hardly feel any Originium in your body."
"Is that so?" He nodded at her with a smile, "There's no hope of me being able to use Arts."
"Almost no hope," She smiled as she corrected him.
This caught his attention, "Almost?"
"Like I said there is still a way," Mostima said with a smile, "Do you have any understanding of Arts?"
"Not much," He grabbed his cup and drank his coffee. Bitter, just how he liked it. After enjoying his drink he continued, "I only know that you need to have a bit of Originium in your body to be able to use Arts."
"In a way you are right but," She smiled at him as she placed another donut on his plate. Lin Ye sighed but still accepted it, "You need something to help you use Arts, a catalyst. Anything can be used as one, a wand, a gun. The only thing that was needed to make something as a catalyst was to have a bit of Originium in it. If someone is an Infected, they can use their body as one. It makes them able to use Arts without any help. There is still a drawback to this."
"A drawback?" Lin Ye leaned closer to her. He was learning a lot from her about Arts, "What is it?"
"The more they use their body as a catalyst, the more the infection will spread to their body." She answered as she picked up a donut for herself to eat.
"I see," Lin Ye nodded.
"There are many types of Arts too," Mostima continued on with her explanation after she was done eating her donut. She held up three fingers in front of her, "Healing Arts. Like the name, it helps people with healing others. However it does not heal people on their own. It just enchants the effects of medicines. Then we have Empowerment Arts. This type of Arts gives the user a buff if I have to put it. Offensive Arts. Like the name says, its only purpose was for combat and inflict damage."
She explained all of this to him and Lin Ye enjoyed this small lesson that he was having with her.
"I have a hunch that I can use all three of them, right?" He smiled at her
"Again, yes and no," She smiled back at him.
He raised his brow at this, " What does that mean by that?"
"Like I said, there are many types of Arts," She then slowly lifted another of her finger up to him, "There is still one more type of Arts, Magic"
"Magic?" His eyes widened at this. He glanced at Eyja beside him just to make sure, "Eyja, does Magic really exist?"
The small sheep looked confused and she tried to remember something about Magic, "I think so, Senpai. I learned before that Magic was real when I learned about Arts."
"Yes, magic is real. However, no one can do it," She nodded, " Lin Ye, I want to ask you a question. Where did you think Arts originated?"
Lin Ye thought for an answer but nothing came into his mind, "No idea."
"It was made to copy what magic can do," Mostima said to him, "Gods can use Magic. However, only one person can use true magic, not Arts. The first Caster of Terra."
"The first Caster?" This interested him, "Who was this person?"
"Not much was known about this man," She said, "People would ask this person to teach them how to use Magic. They failed to learn from him. However, one day, people learn to use Originium as a catalyst to be able to use something like magic."
This was the first time Lin Ye learned about this, "What is the difference between Arts and Magic."
"From old documents, the only thing that we know about Magic is that the user draws power from the world while Arts draw power from oneself of small things," She explained, "In a way, Magic users used the world as their catalyst."
"From the world?" He processed all of this but something was not adding up, "Mostima, why are you telling me all of this?"
"Because I think you can use Magic instead of Arts." She told him.
Lin Ye's eyes widened at this, "... What made you so sure of this?"
"When I tried to check your body to see if you were able to use Arts or not, I felt something was off," She folded her hands, "I felt the Originium in the air around you was acting strange. It was like they were trying to let you use them but your body kept on rejecting them.
"The Originium in the air was trying to interact with me?" Lin Ye pondered at what he was told, "You mean to say that I can use the air around me as my catalyst?"
"I do not know," She shook her head, "I never seen anything like this before. But maybe you are right. Maybe you can really use Magic."
Lin Ye did not know how to react to this. He could use Magic? If so, he had another problem.
"So if I can use my Magic?" Lin Ye glazed back at Mostima, "Can you teach me how to use Magic then?"
"I can't. I used Arts not Magic" She shook her head. Then she thought of something, "I read the old records about Magic. In them, they said that Arts worked like Magic. Arts was Magic for normal people. So, how they work must be in some aspects the same."
"It does make sense," Lin Ye nodded to her, "So why bring that up?"
"I can teach you one of my Arts," Mostima smiled at him, "However, only the basics. After that you need to learn the rest by yourself.
Lin Ye's ears had to do a double take of what she told him, to make sure he was not hearing this.
"You want to teach me your Arts?" Lin Ye wanted to make sure that his ears were not, "Isn't Arts personal for someone. Are you sure about this?"
"True. For a caster the most important thing for them is their Arts," Mostima nodded at this. Then she placed her elbow on the table and rested her head on her hand. She smiled straight at him, "That's why I am teaching you this."
This caught him off guard.
"... If you are sure," He slowly smiled back at her, "Thank you then."
Then he thought of something, "Hey Mostima, can I ask you something?"
This caught her attention," Ask away."
A smirk slowly appeared on his face, "Can you teach me to summon a meteor?"
Her eyes slowly blinked as she tried to processed his question.
Then after a while, she burst into a laugh. Lin Ye soon followed laughed along her. Eyja beside him soon giggled at this.
"A meteor?" She finally called herself down to be able to talk, "Are you serious?"
"A man need to ask," He smiled at her, "So?"
"No, I can teach you that," She smiled back to him, "I can't do that. Anything else?"
"All clear here," He chuckled.
"In that case," Mostima clapped her hand. She then put up two fingers to Lin Ye, and said with a smile, "So pick between these two. Black or White?"
Lin Ye stared at her fingers.
"Which Arts do you want me to teach you?"
{Rhodes Island's Psychologist}
Draft: Jaq
Proofread: Jaq
Edit: Jaq