Chapter 5

After the first night of her magic lesson under Shinki ended, paranoid part of Taylor's mind started regretting her decision as it was nothing like she imagined at all.

Instead of handing her a wand or a staff and telling her the secret chant of power or giving her a big tome of forbidden knowledge for study, Shinki led her to the top of the tower situated at the west wing of the castle when the night still young. And it was here, under the cloudy red sky of demonic realm, where Shinki ordered her to sit down in seiza position, hands on her lap, and begin a meditation practice.

'This seems to be easy' was Taylor's first thought which she will soon regret thinking.

The first half hour was fine for Taylor, just sitting there, close her eyes and controls her breathing, but when half hour extended to an hour, she began to sweat, her mind slowly but surely drifted to various things. Her breathing shortened as painful memories surfaced from the day her father struggling with the closing of the dock, to her mother's death, to…

Pain blossomed on Taylor's head as Shinki's hand mercilessly whacked her, the motherly kindness seemingly gone with her reprimanding Taylor for the first time since her resurrection, "Stay focus and not let your mind wander, Taylor! Magic needs focus to learn, more so than any other subject you did at your human school!"

Taylor wants to retort that having her sitting here for hours on end wasn't exactly fruitful either, but her words died the moment another whack hit her head as if Shinki knows what she was thinking. "And that's the second lesson in the art of arcane: the intention of caster is all good, but without focus and clear mind you'll not only waste energy but also endanger yourself and anyone close by. Hence the meditation practice!"

And so, she sat and tried to do as Shinki asked, but it was difficult to not try thinking at all.

"Bring your mind back to the present, Taylor." Shinki's voice punctured the silence, "Ponder not the thing that yet to happen. Think about the present about what you're doing, what you can do, what should you do."

Although the 'what should you do' part was obvious for Taylor considering what she was doing for the past couple of hours, some part of her couldn't help but thinking that there're more to it than what Shinki told her. Yet for the life of her, she couldn't figure it out.

The meditation continued for another hour with no apparent success as Taylor's mind kept drifting away, the pain on her legs also getting unbearable making her shaking every so often. Shinki then decided that enough was enough and call it a day with a sigh "It's late now, you may go and get some rest, tomorrow awaits."

Taylor stood up shakily, her legs feel numb from sitting for so long in such uncomfortable position. She did her best to not let it show on her face as she bowed to Shinki, but when she looked at her master and tutor, she was dumbfounded to see a look of remorse on her face.

"Is there something that matter, Ma'am?"

The raven-haired girl asked, although a small part of surviving traitorous and paranoid thought took satisfaction in making her mistress's guilt for whatever she put her through in the past hours, Taylor still felt bad for falling short of the expectation and reminded herself that Shinki already asked her whether to learn or not. Thus, this resulting hardship is all hers.

Shinki's strained smile greeted her as she dismissed Taylor's inquiry "It's nothing, my child. If you wish for another teacher instead of learning from me, then I won't begrudge you for it. I promised to bring you up in the realm of arcane after all. And I won't go back on my word."

Taylor bowed at her mistress again before making for an exit in a rush. She knows that Shinki means well to train her like this, she already made it plenty clear that magic is not a candy to be handed out to any random kid on the street, much less a teenager with a mistrust of authority like her.

Her musing was cut short when she reached her quarters. Again, Yumeko stayed up waiting for her. She was touched how the senior maid showing concern over her, not just as a co-worker, but a friend too, even if she was a bit cold and lack of tact at a time.

"How's your first lesson?"

Despite the downcast look displayed prominently on her face, Yumeko still asked the obvious thing. But they still got works tomorrow and it was pretty late at night now, thus getting the conversation going and to the point as soon as possible was the sensible approach.

"Not very useful. I cannot understand how to attain clear mind she asked me to."

Taylor decided that tact should be thrown out of the window for now and be blunt with it, as she learned that her senior wouldn't mind this slight disrespect much.

Yumeko didn't speak as Taylor made her way to their small kitchen to brew some tea for her and her senior. It was after the water started boiling that she continued the conversation, "She wants to make sure that you'll stay focus when studying, and ultimately when using magic."

"Had I not focused enough during our lesson for that exam?" Taylor asked as she carefully putting tea leaves into the boiling pot and put out the fire. After arranged cups and pot on a tray, she took it back to the table and shot her senior an annoyed look, "I can't see how studying magic would be any different."

Yumeko eyes looked between the steaming teapot and Taylor's, and then replied evenly "I don't think there would be much differences between them, Taylor." She poured herself a cup before continues "It's more pronounced when teaching someone who lived their whole life unaware of magic. And since you fall into that category, Milady wanted to make sure that your mental conditioning from the norm of such society does not hinder your effort in the lesson ahead."

Yumeko then gestured with her free hand telling Taylor to pour herself a cup first while she drank her cup. After letting steaming liquid soothed their dried throats for a bit, Yumeko resumed explanation when Taylor put down her cup, "It's often subconscious thing, whispering in the back of their mind, telling them how what they're about to do is nonsense, waste of time and effort, it can't possibly be real, and many more excuses they deemed 'rational'."

Taylor couldn't fault Yumeko's logic. Despite people with supernatural power running rampant on the world she came from, magic still gets chalked up as 'superstitious nonsense' by the common masses.

But then, her interest was caught up by certain words that her senior said. She put down her cup and asks. "You have experiences teaching magic, Yumeko?"

Yumeko blinked twice before shaking her head and elaborates "No, but I'm a good listener. This castle always visited by many individuals during other seasons. Magical practitioners, scholars, or even initiates are among them, which I had to cater to apart from Milady from time to time."

Yumeko quickly directed her back to what they were discussing earlier "Now, back to the problem at our hands. Meditation is one of the methods which magic users across many schools and realms used to help clear their mind of these stray, negative thoughts. Along with keeping them focused on what they're doing. As Milady should've already told you, intent and focus are the most important things in spellcasting."

Taylor nodded, which allowed Yumeko to bluntly stating another fact "Not counting myself, Milady never had any other students in arcane art before, and we were born in the realm which magic involved in everyday life. My best guess is that is what caused this difficulty to you."

Looking down at her half-full cup, Taylor nodded, but then another curiosity struck her and she didn't hesitate to asks "Then why meditation? You said that there're other methods out there too?"

Yumeko glanced toward the window in their quarters, out into the darkness of the night and sighed "She has a friend who's a monk, Buddhist monk to be exact, and that's where she learned the technique from." she then looked pointedly at Taylor "…the several weeks she disappeared after your arrival, she visited her to asked for an advice how to best teach you."

Taylor frowned "Not to disrespect Shinki, but why can't she let this monk teach me?"

"She was sealed…" Yumeko instantly replied, but when seeing Taylor's confused face, she quickly adds "I mean she was imprisoned in a containment cell specifically made for her with no way to break out."

Taylor's asked in bewilderment "What sort of crime did she commit that led to her getting imprisoned in the first place? I mean, isn't monk supposed to be a religious figure who dedicated their life for peace and self-enlightenment?"

Yumeko nodded with an expression that looks like she couldn't decide whether to get annoyed or feels sorry for whoever poor monk was before she sighed "That's not my place to say. While she did commit a crime, her naivety to believe that human society she was part of will be willing to change their way of thinking like her also played a part in her downfall a long time ago."

Immediately, Taylor's mind began comparing this 'mysterious monk' to several martyrs in history. And then she asks "Is she from around Makai?"

Yumeko shook her head "No, she was a human from the human realm – parallel Earth as you called it. From when supernatural still roamed the land and magic an integral part in the noble court of the ruler of the land." She tapped her chin in thought before continues "I believe it's a few centuries ago since she showed up here."

"Wait," Taylor stopped Yumeko "How can a human alive for that long anyway? Is this related to magic too?"

A nod confirmed what Taylor asked followed by Yumeko's verbal response "Yes, human magicians are known to extend their life beyond what their normal lifespan permitted thanks to either elaborate or side effects of their studies. There're also hermits and many other methods, but all involved magic one way or another."

Taylor looked thoughtful for a moment, rummaging through her knowledge about theology which is extremely limited compared to parahuman knowledge "So she extended her life by some means, while Buddhism taught that everything has an end. I can guess where those so-called 'criminal charge' came from."

Yumeko looked at Taylor with little surprise shown on her face, before nodding "Perhaps that might be the case."

"But why Shinki did not let her out?" Taylor asked, partly due to her curiosity why would a Goddess who created this whole world couldn't do a simple task of freeing someone from their confinement which happens to be falling into her domain.

"Because the captive asked not to."

Again, the answer flabbergasted the young maid so much that the only response from her is simple exclamation "What?!"

"That's my reaction too when I first learned of her through Milady." Yumeko replied with a frown on her face, "but alas, Milady honored her wish and never free her. There must be a personal reason for that which is not ours to pry, so I'd suggest you let it rest now."

"I… see…"

Taylor agreed reluctantly even though a minor part of her mind demands answer, alas, they're not in a position to demand it. She looked at the empty cup in her hands, and then the magical clock on the table and realized how much time has passed, thus she decided on the final question of that night.

"Is there any advice you can give me Yumeko? Please?"

The two maids stared at each other for a long while with the senior one looking thoughtful while the junior one looking nervous yet didn't avert her gaze as if trying to show her opposite how serious she was at solving her dilemma.

Finally, Yumeko nodded in approval and spoke: "All I can advise you is to focus your mind, like how our study sessions during the last week went."

Seeing the look on Taylor's face, Yumeko continues "Do not think like 'how awesome I'd be if I learned magic' only think about right now when you're meditating, reflect upon yourself, who are you? What are you doing? Or even your breathing, focus to make it even and continuous. Something like that." she shrugged "I used to do it when starting out as a maid, as I was easily distracted back then. Meditation helped me focus on what I am doing and thus helped me complete the task faster."

Yet Taylor still looked confused, Yumeko frowned a little, but still patiently explaining to her as much as she could without any annoyance in her words "Many monks I've met in my time would've said the same thing but in a more cryptic way. Or maybe I missed meanings during the conversation, but I'm confident that I get the core of it right."

It makes sense to Taylor, but then she had to stifle a yawn, her tired mind struggled to think further. Her reaction couldn't escape her senior's notice and thus she decided to end in for the night whilst wishing Taylor good luck in tomorrow's lesson as a parting word before both drifted into sleep.

'Maybe I'm a bit too hard on her?'

Shinki thought as she waited for Taylor on the same tower that she taught Taylor how to meditate the night before. As the ruler and creator of Makai realm, she doesn't have many works to do especially during 'Winter' or 'Cold season' as her subjects usually called it, thus she was free almost as soon as dinner, unlike her servants.

And that gave her time to review what transpired the other night. Shinki couldn't say that her attempt was a success, quite opposite if she honest with herself.

Taylor was the second being whom she took up as a pupil in arcane art with the first being Yumeko. The lack of experience in teaching was clear to herself enough that she even offered Taylor to find a more suitable teacher in the art despite it was only the first day.

'Perhaps we have things in common more than I thought… abandonment still haunting me after all this time...'

Even if it's true that each individual is suitable to one type of magic, that did not excuse her poor attempt at explaining the basic and fundamental reason for meditation practice to Taylor. She was rather doubtful if Taylor will show up tonight.

But the moment she thought as such, the door leading to the battlement flung open and Taylor in her usual maid attire strode in. Once she noticed her mistress, Taylor bowed before walking up to her, determination clear in her eyes and voice that greeted Shinki "I'm ready for today's lesson, Ma'am."

Shinki's smile wasn't wide, but her happiness radiated through nonetheless that such setback didn't deter the young girl. She instructed Taylor to do as yesterday, and the girl did so without question.

This time Taylor stayed in meditation for hours without a twitch and not fall asleep at all. Yumeko joined her roughly hour after the beginning of meditation, but she too opted for silently observing like her mistress.

Once three hours passed and Taylor was still in a trance with slow and even breathing, Shinki decided that it was enough and called her "That's all right, Taylor, you can stop now."

Taylor opened her eyes and tried to stand up but then winced at her numbed legs. Wordlessly, Yumeko reached for Taylor and pulled her up. Taylor shakily stood on her feet and shot Yumeko a thankful glance before turning to Shinki and bows slightly, "I have a question, Ma'am."

Shinki nodded "We're teacher and pupil right now, so go ahead."

Received permission, Taylor did just that, but not before she glanced hesitantly at Yumeko who was standing next to Shinki "I asked Yumeko about empty one's mind and curious how can it let one achieve one's goal? Isn't setting one's goal will be a better method to motivate and for people to not be led astray?"

Shinki hummed while sporting a thoughtful look before replies "When you looked into the future, you're not looking at the present. For the untrained, their mind will wander, imagines of what could've been, what going to happen instead of the now, and that's a dangerous thing to do in the art of arcane." she paused, "especially for someone who never exposed to it for their entire life."

"I… see…" Taylor's mind then connected the dots "wait, does that mean there're other methods to focus one's mind out there too?"

Surprisingly, Shinki confirmed her theory "Yes, but it's probably not suited your mindset at the moment, that's why I chose this one."

One part of Taylor's mind wanted to grill Shinki on how could she know that it wouldn't work for her, but another part told her to let it rest as plenty of hints has been given and she knows the answer already.

Seeing that she has no question left, Taylor bowed again, "Thank you for your lesson, Ma'am."

Shinki shook her head, "Remember the state of your mind when meditate, child, so you minimize the danger of your arcane going haywire or giving you the undesired outcome."

Taylor realized where the conversation was leading immediately "I have to practice it."

It wasn't a question at all.

"Meditation is more useful than just putting one's mind into a proper state for magic casting. I believe that Yumeko already told you that much, right?"

The young maid nodded silently at Shinki's roundabout answer, prompting her mistress to give her further instruction, "You'll continue to practice meditation every day, at the very least once before you go to bed. For the arcane art, we'll begin the day after tomorrow."

Yumeko nodded at Taylor while the latter bowed to her mistress with a stoic face which contrasts with her joyous voice "Thank you, Ma'am!"

Shinki didn't take offense to that slip-up, she mirthfully chuckled before dismissing both of her maids for the night, which everyone obliged.

As they made their way through the almost empty crystal hallway lit up with magic lamps, Taylor struck another conversation with her senior as they passed through another pair of armored demonic guards "I never ask you before, but how long the winter last in this land?"

Yumeko quirked her eyebrows at the out of the blue question, but answers nonetheless "Four months, it'll be over in about four weeks from now."

"I see…" Taylor replied before asked worriedly "…so this castle will get livelier soon right?"

Yumeko quickly noticed the hidden meaning and took a step to address her worry "Even if you cannot use magic to help with the housework in time of the end of winter gathering, Milady will not begrudge you for it. She never that petty."

Eyes widen, Taylor apologized "I'm sorry."

Corner of the senior's lip quirked up a little "You have nothing to apologize for."

They turned a corner and down the stairs before Yumeko continued their conversation "While magic has its own rules on how it functioned and fully replicable by those who aware and put their effort into it, the one who delved into the art of harnessing it rarely advance their study at the same rate unlike your modern-day education curriculum."

Taylor didn't speak, but she listened to her senior with rapt attention while also paying attention to her step. "Thus, it might take you days, weeks, months, or even years to master it. The monk we discussed yesterday took decades to mastered her art."

'Well, old master much?' thought Taylor before her mind returned to the present along with worries.

"Taylor, you're daydreaming again." comment from Yumeko brought her attention to her senior whose smile vanished and replaced with a frown "Just a few moments and you forget the meditation lesson already?"

The scolding while light-hearted did remind Taylor that she has a long way to go before she can wield magic properly. If she was still her old, bullied self, she may hate and ignore Yumeko. But now, after all these months, she couldn't bring herself to hate Yumeko for pointing it out, as she knows that it was of genuine concern and not of malice.

As they reached the quarter to turn in for the night, she spoke up to both promise herself and to address her senior "I'll have to try harder then."

"Just not overdo it." Yumeko advised sagely as she closed the door behind "After all, we have responsibility, and time is the limited resource that cannot be increased in any way, shape, or form…" she paused and then added as she suddenly remembered another important fact "…unless you happened to specialize in both Time and Space magic, but we wouldn't know."

Taylor couldn't disagree with that.

The time she returned to the tower came as a surprise to Taylor by how much the lesson differed from the movies she once watched in her previous life where the protagonist learned of the equivalent of magic for the first time.

"When your scientists can define solar radiation, which is invisible to your eyes, why not try to apply that kind of thinking to magical energy?"

But on second thought, it should be obvious Shinki would tailor her advice to make sure someone from another society devoid of mystical art like Taylor could understand and pick up easily instead of being dramatic like those in the shows. It made her feel more grateful to her mistress even if she still struggling to 'feel the magical energy that surrounding herself and be everywhere' like her mistress instructed to do.

And she couldn't help but commented on it while sitting in meditating stance on the same tower she practiced meditation previously "The only thing I'm feeling is the chilling wind on my face, Ma'am."

Her voice lacked sarcasm, only frustration that she couldn't feel anything that could be the magical energy at all. Or perhaps she felt it but disregarded it subconsciously like Yumeko once said.

To her credit, Shinki didn't get angry or disappoint, she continued to patiently explain as best as she could "Think about it another way, energy existed in many forms, heat, chemical, kinetic are some that you should familiar with. Why not add this energy to that list."

"I thought magic is supposed to be supernatural…"

Shinki smiled at the remark and proceed to corrects Taylor "It is supernatural indeed my child, as it is highly malleable and respond only to the will of those who could harness it rather than to law of physics you know of. That's why it's hard to sense or grasp, for it is not something you could easily observe with normal means even when it's everywhere, inside and surround both living and non-living, ready to be used."

As if her words emboldened her, Taylor fell into a meditative trance once more, trying to clear her mind of stray thought and focused entirely on what her mistress taught.

The time for the lesson was almost up when she finally felt something indescribable by word, it was neither warmth nor cold, not wind brushing against her body since it's a windless night.

"Nice one Taylor, now imagine the energy collated into a single point in front of you."

Shinki's voice instructed her as if she knew what's on Taylor's mind. Some times ago she would've freaked out at the idea of people reading her thought even if it's in the contract she signed to return to the living world. But now it was comforting, both to know that she was making a progress in the right direction and to know that the teacher has an interest in seeing her succeed unlike those she experienced at Winslow.

She did as her mistress asked with calmness and focus. A minute passed before her mistress's voice called out to her again, telling her to open her eyes…

Taylor found a ball of soft-glowing blue light floating a few inches from her face, but a surprise made her focus slipped and the ball dissipated into fading sparks. A giggle drew her attention to her white-haired mistress "Oh my, your reaction certainly brings back my memories." and then she quickly dispels her worries "That's a usual reaction, my child. Not many could contain the excitement on their first try."

Taylor released a breath she didn't know she was holding in relief and then refocused her mind with hands stretched out. And sure enough, the ball of light reappeared, hovering between her hands. A joyous smile graced the maid's lip as she popped the light time and again as if to confirm that she wasn't dreaming while paying no attention to her teacher and mistress who watched silently with amusement twinkling in her eyes.

Another clap brought Taylor back to her sense as she quickly dispelled her ball of light by her will. With a hand gesture from Shinki, she stood up with her attention drawn to her mistress, waiting for either instruction or lesson to learn.

"Now that you have proven the existence of this force with your own senses, I'll be giving you a question." Shinki voice gained a serious undertone, a cue that Taylor slowly picked up over the time she served here "What is the purpose in studying magic?"

Taylor was about to answer "To help me serve you better!" but hold her tongue at the last second when she noticed that Shinki never asks about "Her purpose" but the purpose of magic in general.

Seeing confused and lost look on Taylor's face Shinki spoke up again "I do not expect your answer right now or even at the end of our lesson, my child. It's something that will come naturally when experiencing the worlds and each people have a different answer, so keep that in mind. But for now, remember that magical energy, mana, life force, or however you wish to call it is everywhere and always been there, waiting for those who aware of it to tap and use for their designs."

Taylor bowed at Shinki and then they both took their leave for the night. And again, she found her senior maid waiting back at their quarter. She felt a little guilty by now that she'll keep disturbing Yumeko's rest time by doing these nightly lessons in the foreseeable future, and with the realization of how huge the castle was and how Yumeko had to clean the whole bloody place by herself considering how small Taylor's workload in comparison, she got a newfound respect for her senior.

"So, you finally proved to yourself the existence of magic…" Yumeko greeted her from her usual spot at the table "You learned quickly."

That remark elicited a surprise from the junior as she was certain that Yumeko couldn't read mind nor did she met with Shinki before, and she doubts that Shinki would tell her right after the lesson through their 'link' too.

"Your smile was a little wider than usual earlier. That's why I took a guess."

Yumeko seems to know what she was thinking and helpfully pointed it out. Which only made Taylor's pale cheek gained a shade of pink from both embarrassment and annoyance directed at herself for being so easy to read. But she calmed her thought quickly while sitting down for their almost-routine late-night conversation.

Without any theatrics, Taylor opened her mouth the moment she sat down "It's quite a surprise for me too. I didn't expect it to be this… simple…"

She couldn't exactly say it was easy, as it wasn't, but she didn't think that to achieved this much in a single day has to count for something.

Yumeko's next statement was as if she was reading her thought, "Most magical apprentice takes weeks, if not months, to forms that little ball of light out of nothing. So, yes, learning to do it in a couple of days do takes special talents." then she added as an afterthought "...or stubborn determination and drives to succeed."

Part of Taylor wanted to preen at the praise her almost-stoic senior leveled at her, but Yumeko has to dash her hope by the next sentence "But this's just a first step, whether you'll find any magic you excel in is another story."

The new information made Taylor blinked "There're specialties too?"

Yumeko let out a huff and explained "Something that any specific magician can do very well. Those that can do everything are very rare, and now they're much rarer after the decline of supernatural in the human realm."

Her explanation sparked the curiosity in Taylor and she didn't hesitate to asks "I've heard that a while ago but I didn't ask about it. How can a magic decline when the energy is always everywhere?"

This time, Yumeko shook her head "I'm sorry that I cannot answer that question. My knowledge is rather limited on that regard. Only thing I can say is that nothing stays the same forever."

Taylor understood the latter part of Yumeko piece of advice as she personally experienced it. And that brought up a question Shinki has asked her earlier, but before she could ask Yumeko to clarify, she was interrupted by an unladylike yawn from her own mouth which prompted her senior to tell her to turn in for the night. After brushing her teeth and climbed up on her bed, Taylor falls asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, thought of Shinki's question left her for the time being.

After all, Shinki said it herself that answer will come after she experiencing the world, and it's just a short fifteen years for her confined to a small world and society before coming here.

But now, there's mistress to serve and castle to clean, it wouldn't do to not get proper rest to prepare for the work. When she could make it trivially easy to halved Yumeko's workload, maybe she'd find some free times to explore.

One can hope, after all...