Chapter 9:
Determination to Grow (Updated)
I briefly had a dream. One of a foggy room. My body felt heavy, and there was only white as far as the eye could see. I could hear a faint voice. "Who is she? Why is she here? I can only see black! Nothing else! Arrgh!"
That's all I could remember until I was pulled back into sleep.
I was now seven years old. The snow was falling, and my little siblings, Sirius and Norn, were growing up at a very fast rate. However, I had grown quite irritated. They cried when they were hungry. They cried when they needed to use the restroom. They cried when they were upset at something. Sometimes they even cried just because they were bored. I was wondering if there could be another reincarnate like me in one of the babies, but I was worried over nothing.
My parents were equally as irritated. They couldn't so much as get a single day's worth of rest with these children around. Lilia, however, was in high spirits. I didn't know how she pulled it off.
"See! This is how dealing with child rearing is supposed to be! Taking care of Mistress Lumina was far too easy." She would say, masterfully taking care of them.
In my case, I was already used to crying babies, thanks to my younger brother from my last life, and I was not fond of them. I never found out why my sisters would always squeal and call babies adorable or cute, and then make me change the diapers. Just thinking about it made me more upset.
Anyways, I decided to go outside to catch a break. Someone had beaten me to the punch. It was Paul, who was practicing sword swings. He was a really sucky father, at least when his children were babies. He was quite skilled at swordsmanship, but he really wasn't all that cut out to be a dad.
Let's stop bashing on the poor guy. Let me sing his praises a little. He was in the Advanced-tier in all schools of swordsmanship. To really emphasize what that meant, your average individual spent ten whole years practicing in one school of swordsmanship to even be able to climb to Advanced. However, Paul did that three completely different times, and he was only twenty-six. He was dedicated at the very least. And a total badass.
Paul suddenly stopped practicing sword swings, and said, "Hey, Lumi. About school… actually, scratch that. You don't need that." Paul broke off, and decided to go back to practicing in silence. But he had started saying something, so I wanted to hear the rest of it.
"Was I supposed to have gone to school by now?" I asked. Paul paused, and said, "Well, in Roa, the city nearest to here, there's a small academy where kids your age learn arithmetic, history, reading and writing, that stuff. Frankly, I don't know how you learned all of that up until now, but the point stands that you'll probably just be wasting your time over there."
To prevent suspicions, I told Zenith that Roxas had taught me arithmetic when I started to help with accounting at the clinic. She was impressed, and I guess she decided to tell Paul.
I did say I wasn't a fan of the concept of school before, but I had changed my mind since then. There weren't a lot of people who could manage to bully me successfully. Besides, I just wanted to talk to some new people.
"But father, if I'm being honest, I kind of want to go to school. Meet new people. Get out there, you know?" He sighed, and muttered, "A seven years old shouldn't be 'getting out there.'"
"It's not a nice place, trust me. All the stuff you needed to learn, you've learned already. Also, there's a ton of crappy noble brats around there, and they'd probably bully you for being better than them."
He sounded like he was speaking from his own experience. But, I wasn't him. "Maybe I could teach them a lesson. Throw a few spells at them, you know?" Paul shook his head. "You're just a girl, so they'll think less of you, and target you more. They're gonna think you're not strong, and that you should just stick to housework." Now that was probably also him projecting.
"Isn't that just what you would think?" He widened his eyes, and, "O-of course not, sweetie. Your gender means absolutely nothing." He said, without looking me in the eyes.
If half of the students were gonna be stuck up brats, I'd rather not go. Maybe I'd heed Paul's advice for once.
Zenith
All of my babies were together. Lumi was staring intently into the cribs of my twins. They were fussing, and Lumi's expression stayed the exact same. She had an expressionless face, and seemed to be studying them. It reminded me of when she was a baby herself, and the way she seemed to be observing everything silently. She did some trick with her fingers, and the fussing stopped.
It was honestly astonishing how good Lumi was at taking care of the children. She was on par with Lilia, and Lilia had years of experience under her belt. She was amazing in so many ways. What had I done to deserve her, seriously.
At the sight of her smile, I couldn't help but let out a, "Hehe." I loved that smile of hers. She would regularly engage in conversations with us, and always had that smile on her face. I've seen so many fake smiles, that I could see one when I spotted one. Lumi's, however, was always genuine. She would tell us how much she loved us every night before she went to plan lessons for Sylphie. To me, she was the most reliable daughter I could ask for. I loved her with everything I had.
I could overhear her complaining about her lack of magical progress in her room, and that reminded me of something. It had been a year since I had promised that I would teach her Advanced-tier healing magic, so I decided to finally teach her. We'd need Paul for this to work, so I brought him along while the babies were sleeping. Sylphiette and Lilia were taking care of the children back at home just in case.
We stood before an Asuran Buffalo. It was towering, and its back was as tall as my shoulders. "Shh…" Said an archer we had conscripted for this. He had paralysis inducing tipped arrows, which would work for this. Fwoosh! The arrow hit the buffalo, and it groaned in pain. It flopped to the ground, unable to move.
I passed a piece of paper to Lumi, which held the incantation for an Advanced-tier Healing spell. Paul stepped forward, and I covered the eyes of Lumi. Paul cut straight through the buffalo's leg, and it cried out. Lumi looked at me, and nodded. She grimaced at the sight, and proceeded to chant.
"Angel of miracles, bestow thy holy breath unto the pulsing heart before thee. O heavens blessed with sunlight, servants who despise crimson, swoop down into the ocean of light, the pure white of thy wings spread wide. Drive away the blood thou seest before thee! Shine Healing!"
A brilliant white light shone all over the buffalo as it's missing leg was reattached,
She had done it. She managed to cast it, and the buffalo looked as good as new. It, however, was still in shock from the pain. Lumi pumped her fist, and shut her eyes. What was she doing? I thought. She looked to be concentrating, or praying. She kept this up for about five or so minutes, and just before Paul went over to her, she exclaimed.
"Hah!" She opened her eyes, and an identical blinding light radiated from her hand. I was in shock, and so was everyone there. She had cast an Advanced-tier Healing spell without incantations. She had a bright smile on her face. "Alright!" No one said a word for a while.
Paul broke the silence. "Lumi, you're seriously one in a million." She chuckled at that. "Alright, Mother. Now that we've finished with that, please teach me the Detoxification spell!"
Lumina
It was winter, so I decided to migrate Sylphie's tutoring sessions to the inside of my room. I didn't pull anything funny, mind you. Maybe a few hugs, but that was all.
I was starting to get into more advanced arithmetic and science. I used some of the knowledge from my past life to help me tutor her. Today's lesson was the rain cycle.
"So, what happens to the rain that falls into the ground?" She asked eagerly. I responded to her with, "It becomes groundwater, and either feeds the plants on the ground, or filters out into a nearby river or lake." She looked puzzled.
I'd said it before, but Sylphie was a great student. She tried her hardest to understand what I was trying to teach, but sometimes she couldn't keep up.
"You know how if you pour a cup of water on some dirt, it soaks the ground and flows away? It's like that, but on a way bigger scale." She looked thoughtful, and then asked something else.
"Could you make it rain, Lumi?" I mean, I knew a few spells. I had practiced with Roxas, but I hadn't used it in a long time now. "Yes, I can."
I plopped on my bed, and let Sylphie work on a few questions I had jotted down for her to solve. You know, I had thought sparring with Sylphie would solve my stagnation, and it did help a little. For one thing, I was now confident that I could win a fight against an Intermediate-tier magician with my eyes closed. However, that was just it. At a glance, it looked like I was growing stronger, but I felt like I could do so much more.
With a second chance at life, I was going to try to improve as much as I could. I had been training every day without stopping for years now, but I hadn't really made too much progress since Roxas had left. If I could be taught further, like with a teacher, maybe I could improve far more than I ever would by myself?
"Hmm. Maybe I should really be going to school?" Roxas had mentioned that most schools for magicians were strict, with tons of rules and delegations. That reminded me of the private school where I attended junior high.
"Are you going to go to a school, Lumi?" I heard Sylphie say. Seriously, I need to stop thinking out loud. Sylphie had an anxious look on her face.
Now that I really looked at her, I noticed she had begun to grow her hair out. She only had a short bob, so nothing crazy. Although, I wanted to eventually match ponytails.
"Nah, I was just thinking about it since my father mentioned it recently." I waved her off.
"But Lumi, you've been pretty strange lately." Huh? I had? Was she talking about the cuddling sessions or…?
"Like you look like you're sad about something." Oh, right. I had been worrying about this more than I'd care to admit, so maybe it showed on my face while I was tutoring Sylphie.
"Well, I've kind of hit a dead end with my magic." I said, sullenly. Sylphie sat down on the bed with me. "But you're already amazing enough, Lumi." She said, petting my head. "For my age, sure. In a few years, I'll only be a bit better than average. I want to be a lot better than that."
She was sort of right. There weren't a ton of seven-year old Saint-tier mages in the world. But when I tried comparing myself to them, it felt like I was cheating. All of this know-how came from my previous world, but they had to work their butt offs to get to a similar skill level. I was just a lousy bum in comparison. Even with my memories, I now hit a wall where I couldn't just rely on them to get over it. I needed to break through it.
"Still, I feel like it's about time I took my next step forward, you know?" Watching Sylphie improve day by day, with seemingly no end in sight was putting a dent in my already weak self confidence. She'd end up the girl protecting me if I kept this up.
Sylphie's frown deepened, and she pressed me further. "Are you going to go somewhere?"
"I might. I could go train as an adventurer and then join a labyrinth raiding party. Or I could enroll in some magic school. I don't really—"
"No!" Sylphie cried out, and wrapped me in a tight, warm embrace. What was up with her? Oh, but this is nice. Don't let go.
"No…No…No!" My impure thoughts were cut off as I realized she was trembling. "Don't… leave me alone, Lumi!" Hey? Seriously, would she be this distraught over me leaving?
"Lumi… I love you! Please stay with me… Hic… I'll do anything!" My impure thoughts came racing back. Snap out of it, stupid. She's too young to be into yuri. She probably meant it like familial love.
I thought about it, and it made sense why she'd be so upset over me leaving. If I left all of the sudden, Sylphie would be left alone, without any friends her age. Not to mention her tutoring lessons would be cut off. I could see why she held so much affection towards me. It was sweet.
"I won't go anywhere, Sylphie." My cheeks flushed, and I whispered in her ear, "I love you too, Phi."
Sylphie was getting stronger. Of course, since my tutoring offer was completely out of the blue, I hadn't thought about getting her a wand. What better time than the present? This was going to be my gift for her.
The problem was, I didn't know how to even get a wand to begin with. I went to ask a traveling merchant. She was dressed quite exotically, and wore bright colors. I hoped that she would know something.
"Hey, I wanted to buy a wand for my friend. Would you know where I could buy one?" She looked at me. "Ah, wands. Little girl, I'd recommend buying the ingredients and then getting a craftsman to create it for you, as completed wands are quite pricey. Even a low-end wand would cost you four silver coins." Four silver coins? That was basically all I had after saving up my whole life!
I laughed nervously, and said, "Well, do you sell any wand materials?" She nodded enthusiastically. "Only the finest Treant branches and magic stones. Would you be interested in buying today?" I nodded my head. "I see. What's your price range?" I looked at my money pouch, and responded, "Anything under one silver, please."
She went back into her shop, and brought out a box. "This costs only about 14 Large copper. You can check it out, if you'd like." I inspected the box, and opened it up. It had some branches that looked like they came from a fantasy RPG, and a magic stone, similar in size to the one on my wand, but a brilliant green. It was perfect for Sylphie. "I'll take this!" She smiled, and I handed over the money.
"If you need a craftsman, walk down this path and take a right turn. The first shop on the left is a friend of mine. Try him out, he's exceptionally skilled at wand making." I thanked the woman, and left to find the craftsman.
When I walked in, I saw a strangely familiar young man carving a stick, engraving small patterns all over it. I didn't want to break his concentration, so I waited until he put it down to speak up. "Uhm, excuse me?" He perked up, and then noticed me. I knew who he was now. He was my very first patient back at my mother's clinic who I had met two years prior.
"Oh, it's Lumi! What brings you to my store?" He knew my name, since I had healed him a couple times now. It made sense now, obviously you'd hurt yourself every so often if you were a craftsman. "Uhm, I wanted to order a wand for my friend." I said. "Ah. Did you bring the ingredients with ya, kid?" The man said. "Yes, I did. I also have a sketch for the design." I had worked on the sketch for a few days, until I had gotten it perfectly.
"Perfect. I'm working on an order right now, so you'll have to wait a few hours. That 'kay with you, kid?" He told me. "That's fine. I'll be back here around sundown." I bowed, and walked out of the store. I went on a walk, and waited until sundown. I played target practice, since I had nothing to do.
I eventually managed to get the wand. It was one thing designing it, but it was another to see it in real life. It was dark in color, had metal stripes and a dull sheen covering it. At the top was a small frame which was made of a gray metal, and enclosing the frame was a material that looked like black chainmail, and held the shimmering green magic stone. It was phenomenally made.
"Thank you so much, sir. Here's your payment." I began to walk out. "Come again!" The man called out to me. I looked down at the new wand, and smiled. When I got home, I set the wand in the box, and sealed it shut. I really hoped that Sylphie would like this gift.
"And that's all for today, Phi." I had started calling her that for a while now, since I liked how it felt on my tongue. She smiled, and said, "Thanks for today, Master."
Just as she said that, though, Paul barged in the room. "Lumi, letter for you!" He handed it to me, and Sylphie decided to leave my room with Paul. "See you tomorrow, Lumi." I waved at her.
Now, who would send me a letter? I could count the number of people I've formed a relationship with on two hands. It was from Roxas, unexpectedly.
Dear Lumina, How have you been?
It's been two years since we last saw each other, as much as I find it hard to believe. I've finally settled down a little, so I wanted to write you a letter and update you on my situation.
A few months or so after I departed from Buena Village, I began to make a name for myself while exploring labyrinths, and was scouted to tutor a certain prince. And so, at the moment, I'm staying in the Royal Capital of the Shirone Kingdom.
While not as talented as you, the prince holds magic in high regard. He doesn't seem to be so interested in me, however. It's been a little tough, but I've managed to pull through enough for the prince to actually pay attention to his lessons. His attitude is on the pompous side, and is a lot more energetic than you. He's just a little… well, unwilling. He would constantly say that he 'specifically requested a female tutor.' I shudder thinking about what would have happened to me if I were a woman.
Hmm. Maybe I shouldn't be writing this down. If someone were to open the letter, they might toss me in the dungeon for a while for slandering the royal family. Well, if that ever happens I'll figure something out. I don't necessarily mean these words in a bad way.
In other news, the royal court is planning to appoint me the title of 'court magician' for the duration of my stay. I haven't stopped trying to improve, so that works in my favor.
Ah, right. That reminds me–I've managed to cast several King-tier Wind spells, thanks to the Royal Library having some incantations written down. It looks like effort goes a long way, since it's been quite a while since I first became a Saint-tier magician. So now, I'm King-tier Wind Mage Roxas Migurdia.
I really wouldn't be surprised if you were casting Emperor-tier spells all over the place by now. I know you, kid. Or maybe you've branched out and became Saint-tier in another school of magic? Going off of your thirst for knowledge, you might be dabbling in advancing your Healing or Summoning magic instead. I'm sure you'd leave your mark on the world no matter what you chose to do. You've got a long life ahead of you, Lumi.
Like I mentioned once… If you ever hit a wall in your magical studies, try to get yourself admitted into the Ranoa University of Magic. You'll need to pass an entrance exam and pay tuition, but that first one won't be an issue for you.
Well, until we meet again–
Roxas
P.S. Please take care of those shorts that I left behind, as they're my favorite pair. Also, don't feel obligated to respond, as by the time your letter reaches the palace, I may be gone.
Well, geez. Talk about a wake-up call.
It took me a moment to find Shirone on the map. It was a small country on the southeast of the Central Continent, where we lived now. It wasn't impossibly far, but a straight route to it was blocked by a mountain range apparently infested with dragons. No one dared try to move through those mountains, so you had to take the long way around and approach the country from the south.
Also, the University of Magic was closer, but was blocked by a similar mountain range, so you'd have to loop around the northwest to get around them.
"Hmm." I decided to write a brief reply, without going into too much detail. He held me in particularly high regard, so I didn't want to break his ideals.
Anyways… the Ranoa University of Magic, huh?
Roxas had been praising it all this time. It wasn't exactly close to home, however, and I couldn't just abandon Sylphie here. What to do?
For the moment, I just finished my letter, and paused. I added a brief note at the bottom of the page. "P.S. Your shorts are in good hands. Don't worry about them."
The next day, I decided to breach the topic of what I had come up with. It was dinnertime, and both of my parents were there.
"May I make a selfish request?" I asked.
Paul responded in an odd tone. "Of course, anything for you, Honey." This was my first time ever actually formally asking for something, so I had expected a bigger reaction. Was he still on that preconception that since I was a girl, I couldn't do anything crazy in life? Hah.
"The thing is, I've recently hit a dead end in my magical studies. And for that reason, I was hoping to attend the Ranoa University of Magic..." I began. "However, when I mentioned this to Sylphie, she broke down in tears and begged me not to leave her."
Paul snorted, and said, "I hope the babies can get along that well in the future."
I told my father, "The ideal solution would be for the two of us to go together, but Sylphie's family isn't as well-off as ours. I wanted to ask if you'd consider paying for both of us to attend."
"Hmm." He thought about it for a while, and spoke up. "Sorry kiddo, but the answer is no. I had expected this. What I wasn't expecting was Paul to begin listing off sound reasoning and arguments as to why exactly I couldn't go.
"I've got a few reasons. One, even if you two are friends, the point stands that you're still her tutor. I imagine you haven't gotten close to the most that you can teach her, so you should focus on that. Two, money is an issue. We could potentially pay for your tuition, but asking to pay for Sylphie's as well is too much. Magic schools are expensive."
I raised my hand. "I have a bit of savings from my salary as Sylphie's tutor, so maybe I could help with those?" I said. "Depends on how much you've got." I held up four silver coins. He shook his head. "I appreciate the effort, but you're going to need way more than ten times that amount just for one tuition. Besides, I have another reason. You're just a seven year old girl right now. You're smart, but there's a lot you don't know about the world out there. You lack real-world experience." Those last words cut deeper than Paul was probably intending.
"I understand, dad. But, can I ask you how old I have to be for you to change your mind?" I said.
"Hmm. Let's see.. Fifteen? No, twelve. That was how old I was when I left home." That seemed reasonable. I wasn't in any rush, so waiting that long would probably be beneficial in the long-term.
"Alright then, I'll stay here for now. Thank you, though." I said, and accepted the terms my father had given me. My magic would be good enough for people to call me exceptional even at the age of twelve, so I think I could hold off until then. I suppose I'll simply just have to find a way to pass the time between then and now.
Author's Note: Thank you for reading this extra-long chapter. Next chapter should be the end of Volume 1!
Sorry for the abrupt update, I've been planning out a ton for future events, and decided to change an upcoming arc. I'm sorry, Eris fans. You'll have to wait a little longer.