"Dodge!" Mima cried, fireing a magical blast like a comet at Renko, who rolled to the side.
"Block!" Mima shouted, launching three fireballs which homed in towards Renko, who shot them down with three shots similar, but slower and less bright, to the one Mima had fired previously.
"Dispel!" Mima ordered, forming a magical circle below Renko, who bent down and touched it, but failed to dispel the magic in time, the gravity spell throwing her into the air, before it reversed, and she was slammed into the ground, although the velocity noticeable dropped before impact so Renko was only winded, not actually hurt.
The spirit floated over to Renko, and poked her with the base of her Moon Summoner.
"Quit slacking off and get up." She said. "It's your turn to attack me. Remember, if you can force me to shoot down your attack instead of simply using a defensive ward or evading, then you'll be ready for the next step."
Renko got up, and brushed herself off. Mima's training was harsh, but it was getting results. A few months ago all she could do in terms of magic was tell the time and location by looking at the sky. Now, she could fly, and use quite a few magical spells, both offensive and defensive. Astral Magic, as Mima proudly called it, was indeed powerful. Although as she found out when Mima made her spar with Marisa the previous week, there was still a fair way she had to go before she reached the level of Mima's previous student, even if Marisa had used other types of magic than what she learnt from Mima.
Renko shuddered thinking of taking that Master Spark. That was the most painful experience she had ever had. That ferocious blast of raw magical energy shattered the barrier she attempted to raise. Mima herself stated afterwards that the Master Spark was the sole exception to her insistence that when it came to raw power, her Astral Magic was supreme, as the Master Spark itself was nothing more than a blast of raw magical energy, entirely dependent on the well of energy available to a person. And Marisa had a lot of energy.
Renko thrust her hand forward, and fired a beam of starlight, not unlike Rumia's Moonlight Ray attack, but brighter, and with a light blue hue, and more sparkles. Mima easily evaded the beam by shifting to the side, as Renko raised her other hand, a finger in the air, and drew a circle three times ith the finger, before swinging her arm down, and a cascade of magical stars fell from above where Mima dodged, the spirit raising a magical ward in defence, which caused the stars to simply bounce off.
Renko of course knew that she wouldn't be able to beat Mima in terms of raw power, not yet at least, but at least forming an attack she actually had to try to defend herself against was something she wanted to manage to do, it would be a massive sign of her progress, after all.
"Gravity Flux!" Renko cried, attempting to fling Mima like Mima flung her moments ago. Unfortunately, Mima just floated in place, looking bemused.
"I'm a ghost Renko. I don't have any mass. Therefor, Gravity magic has no effect on me. Still, I can feel that the magic you're using in this spell is more stable than before." The spirit said.
"That's not the idea Mima." Renko said with a smirk, before she focused the magical area of reversed gravity, and Mima's Moon Summoner flew from her hands, with the spirit looking visibly shocked at the development. "You might not have mass, but your rod does; and without that as a magical conduct and focus, your power is reduced!"
Renko took a breath as Mima flew to grab her staff again. She knew she would only have one shot at this, she couldn't catch Mima off-guard like this again. There as no way she would fall for the same move from her twice.
Mima smiled as she noticed above her staff, a sphere of rock and fire come crashing from above. It wasn't that large, about half the size of Renko, but it was still dangerous, due to it's weight and speed. Renko had called a meteorite, and there was no way that Mima would be able to use a simple magical ward to fend that off, especially in the time she had.
So Mima, after grabbing her staff, just fired an expanding sphere of blue flame from her hand, which, on contact with Renko's meteorite, consumed it, before vanishing. Mima had shown Renko that spell before, it was Nova, but she hadn't learnt it yet, since it was rather hazardous and unwieldy to use, and if it went wrong, she could cause massive damage as the spell went out of control.
The spirit floated down, looking half proud, and half surprised.
"I knew your potential was greater than Marisa, but to think that you would be ready this quickly." She said.
"Well, I did it, so what is this thing you keep talking about?" Renko asked, her tone clearly excited.
"Your own staff." Mima said simply. "Or wand. It's up to you really. Marisa had a wand. Now you can draw upon your inner power to that degree to fuel your magic, it is time for you to start using a magical focus to enhance your own power, and to generally strengthen your connection to magic."
Renko smiled, before she thought.
"So... you say I have a choice. How does this work. Do I just tell you what I want or..."
"It is not that simple. A magician's magical focus is something that is created, or attuned, especially to them." Mima said. "This is why to have a true magical focus, you need some level of control over your own magical powers in the first place."
"So what's Marisa's?" Renko asked.
"That item she used to fire her spark from. It's called a Mini-Hakkero. Although it's modified so it suits her magic, using the remains of her old wand." Mima explained, before she started to fly off. "Come with me."
Renko nodded, and took off after her mentor, until she reached a cave on the side of a hill, plastered with numerous seals marked with Ying-Yang orbs.
Mima made an annoyed sound.
"The seal hasn't weakened? Damnit. Reimu really took it seriously when she sealed this place up."
"Reimu sealed this place?" Renko asked. "Is there some sort of reason?"
"I might have used this place to orcastrate an incident where I tried to kill Reimu and steal the power of the Hakurei for myself." Mima said.
Renko just looked at the spirit dumbfounded.
"So, what's the plan if we can't go into... whatever this cave is?" Renko asked.
"We go to the place in Gensokyo with the strongest concentration of magic, which would be the Forest of Magic." Mima said. "However, I am worried if the concentration of magic is strong enough there. Other magicians in Gensokyo do not use a focus like myself and Marisa."
"Well, if the Forest of Magic doesn't work, we could always try and convince Rumia to let me into Makai. That place is sure to have enough magical energy." Renko said.
The Forest of Magic was somewhere that Renko initially could not even breathe in. The air still felt thick and muggy to her, but she could still breathe in it, despite how unpleasant it was.
A sign of her growing affinity with her magical power.
"Yes, this seems like a good spot. Renko, take a meditation stance and let the magical energy flow through you." Mima said, as Renko sat down and folded her legs, before using magic to levitate herself.
"Before you start focusing, I'll give you the rest of the instructions. Focus on the flow of the magic until it feels like an extension of yourself. Then, synchronise your magical flow with that of the surrounding magic. After that, you must focus it into your hands. Understand the surrounding magic, become one with the surrounding magic, and then command it." Mima said.
"That doesn't sound easy." Renko said.
"Indeed, this is an extension of your current ability to command the magic within you. You need to reach out that ability and command the very natural magic. Doing so will increase your power tremendously, while also requiring less effort." Mima explained. "However, if it starts to feel like you are being overwhelmed, or painful, stop, and take a break."
Renko nodded, before she closed her eyes and focused. It took a few minuites, but she could faintly feel the magical energy that made up the miasma swirling around her, and even within her lungs. That feeling shocked her out of her meditative stance with an urge to throw up, which made Mima laugh.
"I guess focusing on a magical mist will do that." Mima said, as Renko heaved and gasped.
"It felt like I was drowning when I felt the magical energy filling my lungs." Renko said, a hand on her chest, before she recovered and tried again, only to splutter a second time, less this time.
"This is an entirely different atmosphere from where I would have liked to do this. The magical energy is less pure... it's probably harder here than Reimaiden."
Renko just closed her eyes again, and this time, she did not start coughing, although her face furrowed in disgust for a moment.
'Only three times? Impressive.' Mima thought.
Renko felt the magical energy within the miasma flowing around her, and then began to focus on her own magical energy, matching it with the flow of the miasma, until she could no longer tell the difference. She lost track of how long this took due to her concentration, and was not aware of the very impressed look Mima had at her achieving this so quickly.
'This girl is even more of a prodigy than Marisa... if she began training back when Marisa did rather than now, she could be stronger than me by now...' Mima thought. 'To think a human like this existed in the outside world. Human potential is truly amazing.'
An hour had passed for Renko to reach this point, but it was clear she had achieved the magical synchronization, because the magical miasma was no longer flowing around her. It entered one side of Renko and came out the other, as if Renko was not even there.
Renko then began attempting to change the flow of her magic and the surrounding magic, directing it to her hands. However, only her magic flowed, and the synchronisation was broken, the miasma whipping around Renko violently.
Mima was about to give advice, but noticed Renko was still focusing, and very quickly regained the synchronization. This happened twelve times in total, but on the thirteenth, Renko's hands began to glow, and a thin beam of pure magical energy began to form between them. The sparkling blue light, like stardust.
"It only took her an hour and a half... amazing!" Mima said, as the beam of blue light began to grow, and change shape and coulor. It formed into a large, wooden staff, which looked rather... traditional, but it was topped with a sun, like Mima's Moon Summoner staff was tipped with a large crescent moon. The golden Sun on Renko's staff glowed faintly, the waves which signified light being fainter than the main sphere. The light of the staff pulsated slowly.
Renko gasped, and opened her eyes. Mima could not help but notice they had edged a few shades closer to red.
The young woman looked at her staff in awe, and held it in one hand as she stood up. It was not as large as Mima's, which required two hands to wield properly. Renko's staff was small enough to be held by one hand, but large enough that two could be used if Renko wished as well, unlike a wand.
"I did it!" Renko said, with a mixture of glee and exhaustion. "I can feel the magic around me far better than before... I can breathe here better... this is amazing!"
"Yes." Mima said. "However, I must give you a warning. This is where Marisa chose to stop. If you continue to undergo by tutelage, you will be at more and more risk of turning into a youkai, a magician youkai, and losing your humanity. Keeping your humanity may be possible if you forge your own path..."
Renko laughed.
"You think I care about my humanity? Mary's destined to become a youkai. She can't become a Celestial or something or she'll end up like her stepsister. She's already told me such. As a human, I would eventually wither away and die. If I am to keep Mary company, I can't stay human myself."
Mima looked shocked.
"Besides, Mary wants to be better than Yukari was. One major thing Yukari did not have that Mary does... is a friend to rely on. I mean, Yuyuko was her friend according to Rumia, but she's dead. Rumia even said she almost seemed happy to die so she could be with her again. I'll be that shoulder for her to lean on. I won't let Mary be alone, I can't let Mary be alone."
"So, you would cast away your humanity for the sake of Maribel Hearn?" Mima asked.
"How could I call myself her friend if I would not." Renko said, her resolve clear in her eyes, which she looked directly into Mima's with.
"Well then; Renko Usami; if that is your resolve, I shall continue to train you personally. I can't say when it will happen, but once you cross that line, there is no way back." Mima said.
Author Notes: Maribel's segment is coming up soon. I got an idea of what I want to do with her in regards to how she grows now. After all, no-one can really 'train' Maribel with her power.