Beautiful Mistake Chapter 7: Lesson Learned
"Mister Cranel, I'm here to inform you that your sister was injured from an Ignis Fatuus in the training halls. She's currently undergoing treatment at the infirmary and -"
Before the prefect could finish his sentence, Bell jumped out of his seat and bolted out of the classroom. Ignoring the surprised yells and orders for him to stop, the young boy pushed himself to move faster in order to see his sister who might be dying or in immense pain.
He remembered Alya telling him that she was finally given permission to use her magic by Baldr when they had breakfast together. Bell was worried that it might be too soon for her to perform magic when they only attended lessons for a few weeks. She was dismissive of his concerns, stating that the time was already long enough and that she needed to train to catch up with him.
"What's the worst that could happen? It's not like I'll blow up the moment I start casting a spell or something." She joked, ironically predicting her fate so accurately that Bell would have assumed the spell she attempted to cast let her see the future briefly before it backfired.
He finally arrived at the entrance to the infirmary but hesitated to enter, contemplating if he had the strength to see his sister in such a horrific state as a result of an Ignis Fatuus.
Bell had learned plenty about the dreaded malfunction of a spell, when reckless adventurers bit off more than they can chew and played with forces beyond their control. The aftermath was not a sight one would want to see.
Charred corpses and mangled limbs were the most common images he had spent hours studying along with his fellow classmates. Any distress that they felt were tempered by the knowledge that they knew the dangers of mismanaging such great power and so reasoned it wouldn't happen to them.
Nausea and fear filled his being as he imagined just how terrible Alya's injuries could be. If he could remain sane if the only family he had left was nothing more than a living corpse barely clinging to life.
But he knew the suspense would be worse and mustered every ounce of courage inside him to push open the doors.
What he found instead was his sister sitting upright on one of the infirmary beds, still alive and eating a bowl of pudding. The medical staff were also in attendance, looking just as surprised as Alya to see Bell barge into the room so suddenly.
"Oh, hey Bell. Didn't know you were coming to visit so soon." Greeted Alya, who continued to eat her dessert, unaware of Bell's initial distress. The sounds of her spoon clinking quietly on the bowl were all that could be heard as Bell just stared at the sister he thought was on the verge of death from nearly being blown up.
…
…
"… want some?"
Alya honestly thought today would be the best day of her life when everything went right… until it didn't.
The classes she attended for the past month had been manageable and interesting, from learning basic monsterology to dungeon mapping. She even found the non-adventuring classes engaging thanks to the excellent teachers who taught them.
But not everything was all sunshine and rainbows for her when actual combat training commenced.
While she had definitely improved by leaps and bounds compared to when she started training with her grandfather, it was clear that her martial prowess would always be average at best as other students bested her in spars constantly.
The combat instructors assured the disheartened girl that improvement in physical abilities and technique would take time and her classmates showed much support, but that only made Alya feel frustrated.
She heard the gossip about Bell's extraordinary progress in classes and martial combat, already on the way to become the top student of the year if he kept this progress up. The young elf felt much pride in her brother's progress but at the same time also felt bitterness in her heart, that her brother was already quickly adapting to the school and thriving while her own performance was mediocre in comparison.
Then she remembered Baldr mentioning that she had powerful magic, something not even her prodigy brother had. It wasn't much of a surprise that she had magic from the beginning as an elf but from what her god stated the spell was one of incredible power and rarity.
She also recalled Baldr telling her the dangers of utilizing the spell because of the power behind it being too much for her to handle currently.
Magic was not something deeply understood even in today's age where it has become ubiquitous and more widespread thanks to the blessings of the deities allowing such a power manifesting more often.
There were many stories and legends that told of the consequences of abusing the power. But there were also fantastical tales that describe the wonders of magic when heroes of ancient times used it to vanquish great evils and bring much prosperity in their time.
After thinking about it for some time and also reasoning to herself that Baldr didn't specifically tell her to never use magic, she quickly signed up for practical magical lessons.
Any doubt that she felt about taking the plunge in magic fizzled away when she saw the various spells being casted in the training room, illuminating the area with a variety of colours. From offensive spells that blasted targets into smithereens to defensive spells protecting and healing their targets in a flash, the variety of magic excited Alya and made her all the more determined to perform such magic herself.
Alya told what little she knew about her spell to the instructors, parroting what Baldr told her about it. Having a sense that it was an offensive spell, they lead her to a series of training dummies at the side of the training room with ample space in case it had a wide area of effect.
"Just clear your mind, visualize the spell and let it loose."
After receiving the basic instructions from one of the prefects, Alya began focusing on the familiar feeling when she first learned about her magic and faced her palm on one of the training dummies.
Time seemed to slow down to a crawl for Alya as she suddenly felt a pressure unlike any other when she began casting. The air felt heavy and hot as she spotted what looked like small sparkling motes of light.
In a few short seconds, Alya regretted her brash decision to rush past careful study and meditation before performing magic. She should have known something terribly wrong would occur if she recklessly tried to handle a power almost equal to the divine as everything blew up in her face… literally.
Then everything went blank.
Alya woke up in a bed and dressed in a thin white gown, feeling sore all over her body particularly the upper half of her body.
One of the nurses quickly tended to her and explained how her spell had triggered an immensely destructive Ignis Fatuus, exploding right in front of her and also inflicting great damage to her surroundings.
Fortunately, aside from Alya no one else was hurt and the damage to the training halls was somewhat contained. But the backlash of the failed spell was potent enough to call upon the assistance of many School District staff and students in order to contain the raging inferno that continued to burn.
The nurse quietly worked on changing Alya's bandages as the girl reflected on her spectacular failure that almost burned down the school.
"So I'm just as useless with magic as I am in everything. If this isn't a sign that I'm not cut out for this..."
This depressing revelation stuck with Alya as she stuffed her face with pudding to deal with her failure. While the dessert served as a decent distraction from today's events, the young elf could only accept that maybe being an adventurer wasn't her true calling.
If the damages she caused to one of the most important sections of Hringhorni won't cause her expulsion, then disobeying her god's orders would definitely put an end to her short-lived career as a student. Perhaps Baldr would be kind enough to leave her falna unlocked so she could join another god and develop a new career path. But she wouldn't begrudge him sealing it permanently and letting her fend for herself.
It was at this moment Bell barged into the room out of breath and tense, looking around wildly before zoning in on his sister eating her second bowl of pudding.
After a few minutes of awkwardly staring at one another, Alya tried to relieve the tension by jokingly offering some pudding to her brother. Her offer was responded with a quick cry of relief as he dashed to her bedside and hugged her as gently as possible.
The medical staff lightly chastised Bell for potentially disturbing Alya's injuries while they were still fresh but allowed his presence while they finished their treatment on their patient. Once her bandages were changed and medicine applied to her burns, the doctors and nurses left the two siblings alone.
"… how bad are your injuries?" asked Bell, still processing his grief at almost losing his sister again and now worried over her new injuries.
"Not too serious. I still need to wear bandages applied with a burn potion for at least a week, but I'll make a full recovery without a scar to show for it."
Noticing how her brother looked even more tense after learning about her injuries despite how minor they are she offered to let him examine them. He didn't get the chance to refuse or accept as Alya already unhooked the strap of her patient gown. Used to his sister's shameless behaviour, Bell proceeded to examine her body starting from the bandaged areas at the upper half.
Alya's entire torso was completely bandaged, almost making it seem like she was wearing a form fitting shirt made of bandages. Her arms and hands were also completely covered with no skin exposed. The only part of Alya's upper half that wasn't covered is her head which surprisingly remained unscathed, her eyebrows and lustrous hair miraculously intact.
"This is strange. An Ignis Fatuus should have inflicted serious injuries all over her body, not just concentrated in one area and her burns aren't too horrendous. Her hair and eyebrows don't even look a bit singed …"
In order to avoid Alya from teasing him more than she already is, Bell kept the examining on the lower half of his sister's body brief. Relieved that the injuries were fully treated and not spread out to the rest of her body, the boy completed the examination and tied up Alya's patient gown.
After making sure that her injuries didn't get aggravated by his examination and properly securing the patient gown, Bell finally spoke.
"You lied to me about getting the headmaster's approval for using your magic, didn't you?" Said Bell, his concern now replaced with anger.
Alya let out a small sigh. "…yeah."
"Why?"
"I wasn't any more progress in class and kept getting knocked around in spars just like when we were training under grandpa. Magic could have been my way of advancing in lessons instead of stagnating."
"You could have died! Was your pride really worth risking your life! Or are you really that stupid to not learn anything in class about recklessly using magic?!" said Bell, throwing out a rare insult towards his sister who didn't look a little bothered at how she threw her life away.
The young elf let out a snort and rolled her eyes, infuriating Bell who was about to admonish her further before she cut him off.
"You're leaving me behind."
The statement confused Bell. "What do you mean?"
"It means that nothing has changed for me since we started our training with grandpa. The only difference is that I'm getting knocked around by other people instead of my prodigy brother."
Alya revealed frustration and insecurity that was building up in her for a long time towards her brother, the growing doubt of her capabilities and the failed expectations of their grandparents weighing down on her conscience.
"Grandma June and Grandpa Peter had a lot of hope for both of us when they sent us to study here. Now they're gone and the only one whose living up to their expectations is you…" said Alya, not shedding a tear despite the emotional speech, only sliding back under the covers of her bed once she was done.
The young girl assumed that her brother left the room when she heard nothing but silence for a long time but then felt the bedsheets being pulled away. She was gently lifted up in a sitting position before Bell gently took her hands into his.
"Do you remember when grandpa stopped telling hero stories? He still told us legends and historical stories but never a story about heroes."
Alya blinked a few times and slowly realised that story time in the Cranel household had ceased any mention of the famous heroic tales. Grandpa Peter was always passionate about story time and gathered the whole family every night to tell them, with Bell religiously hanging on to every word their grandfather spoke.
"Now that you mentioned it, I do now. What happened? You used to love those stories especially the ones from that Dungeon Oratoria book."
Bell let out a humourless chuckle. "I asked him to stop, since I refuse to delude myself anymore."
The young boy revealed the breakdown of his dreams, of how the heroic tales that once inspired him now filled him with nothing but disgust and shame.
How they were now reminders of what he could never achieve.
"But most importantly, how could any hero that came before compare to my own sister?" said Bell.
His hands still entwined with Alya's he continued speaking. "You didn't need a legendary weapon or skills or great power. When someone was in danger you acted to save them immediately."
The young elf attempted to object and downplayed what she did all those years ago, but Bell didn't give her a chance.
"You already surpassed any expectations grandma and grandpa had, and you never needed to prove yourself to me. You're already stronger than me in many other ways and nothing will ever change that."
Bell ended his speech with a small kiss on his sister's forehead before leaning in to hug her. Alya didn't resist and embraced her brother back. He continued to hug hold his sister in his arms for a considerable amount of time and while still embracing her, Bell thought back on what he told his grandfather all those years ago.
He had rejected all but one hero in his life, and she'll always be his hero no matter how many mistakes she made.
Alya spent the rest of the week recovering in the infirmary, with regular visits from Bell and Nina who kept her company. The latter had only heard about her roommate's accident a day later but had also frantically rushed to the infirmary once she learned about it.
Nina once again proved that her age made her no less intimidating than someone older and more experienced as the younger girl gave an in-depth lecture on the safety of magic use to the bedridden older girl.
But the worse part of the scolding came at the end when the half-elf burst into tears and blamed herself for what happened to Alya, saying that she was a bad guide and friend.
Bell was quick to comfort Nina over her feelings of inadequacy and the two became fast friends, the young boy acting like an older brother to the young girl as they bonded over shared concern for Alya.
On the last day of Alya's stay in the infirmary, a surprise visit by Professor Vardenburg had reminded the elven girl of the consequences she needed to face over the destruction of school property and disobeying the headmaster.
Despite the head teacher not appearing angry or upset, even asking over Alya's health and displaying concern, the young elf was still on edge and her caution was proven correct when Professor Vardenburg imparted a message from Baldr.
The headmaster actually wanted to meet Alya when the accident happened but had to focus on dealing with the cleanup of her destructive Ignis Fatuus, which had destroyed a large portion of the training rooms and disrupted many classes.
Now that the situation was under control and Alya had recovered from her injuries, he wanted to discuss about the incident and update her status. The head teacher had been asked to escort her to the main building for the meeting.
In short, Alya's going to get blasted worst than when her spell blew up and also expelled.
Baldr isn't a cruel god to seal her status and kick her out to fend for herself, but he probably didn't want to keep a troublesome student in her school.
Receiving punishment didn't trouble the young elf too much since she accepted that she deserved it for such a blunder. She was more focused on convincing Bell to not throw away his education and future to follow her in disgrace. Bell has a bright future ahead of him and she would be damned if his opportunities would be taken away because of her mistakes.
Donning the School District uniform for the last time, Alya followed Professor Vardenburg out of the infirmary. While they made their way to the main campus building, the young elf was thinking about possible careers she could pursue after expulsion.
But being expelled from such a prestigious institution after only a few months would definitely place a permanent black mark on her record, severely limiting her choices. With an underdeveloped status and magic that was only useful to blow herself up, Alya was stumped in coming up with a backup plan.
Any more thoughts of her hypothetical plans came to an end once she and the head teacher finally arrived at Baldr's office.
Just like Professor Vardenburg, Baldr didn't appear upset or even a bit angry, still appearing divinely radiant and peaceful. He gestured for her to take a seat and made some small talk with the head teacher before focusing on her again.
The head teacher excused himself from the office claiming that he wanted to gather some documents and would return later, leaving the young elf with her soon to be former god.
Baldr didn't ask directly about the main issue and also made small talk with Alya, discussing how her previous classes were and if she made any new friends. Already having a large build up of anxiety from the bleak prospects of her future and not liking to beat around the bush, the young elf cut to the chase and spoke.
"How long do I have before I need to leave?"
Baldr blinked in confusion.
"Leave? Whatever for?"
"When you expel me. I'm pretty sure that blowing up a portion of the school would be violating some rules," Said Alya, taking a deep breath before continuing. "…could I get a few days before you kick me out? I don't really have anywhere to go…"
The god's look of confusion was replaced with alarm. "What!? No, no! You won't be expelled and tossed aside like that! My dear girl, did you really think we would treat you so callously over a mistake?"
Baldr didn't wait for a response and walked towards his child, pulling the distressed girl in comforting hug. Alya was so relieved that she accepted the hug without complaint, melting into the embrace as her anxiety slowly dissipated.
The headmaster released Alya from his hold and went back behind his desk, sitting down on his chair before letting out a small chuckle.
"If we were to expel every student who made a mistake then we wouldn't have any students. You are all here to learn and making mistakes is part of the process, regardless of if they are big or small. I am actually as much at fault here for your accident, Alya."
"How can any of this be your fault? You warned me not to use my magic and I did it anyway." Questioned the young elf, not wanting her mistakes to be shouldered by someone else.
"Perhaps I can tell you while we update your status. I believe this will be your first update since receiving your blessing." Offered Baldr.
Seeing no reason to object and wanting to see how much progress she made the young elf took a seat and stripped off her shirt, showing her bare back to the god.
Pricking his finger with a needle, Baldr let a drop of his divine blood spill on the pale expanse of smooth skin. Instantly, Alya's back illuminated and displayed his blessing.
"Do you remember what I told you about your magic?" asked Baldr as he read the hieroglyphs and began the update.
"That it was a really strong fire magic. Aside from that, you also didn't let me know the incantation for it or what it actually does."
"And for that I deeply apologize for keeping you in the dark. I had hoped that being ignorant of the spell's chant would prevent a catastrophe as your skill had allowed you to cast magic without them as well as lessen their effects. The magnitude of your magic's power was far beyond what I predicted…"
Finishing up the update and concealing the precious information with the unique method only known to gods, he printed out the details on parchment and handed it to Alya.
Alya Lion
Level 1
STR: I 11
END: I 19
DEX: I 15
AGI: I 16
MAG: I 50
Magic: Sacra Scintilla
-
Skill: Fairy Vow
Truths and vows unspoken but heard. Grants non-verbal instant casting of magics for reduced effectiveness and cost of mind. Power of spells dramatically increased when full incantation is used, scaling with the length of chant.
"Okay, now I know what my magic is called. But I don't think it matters since I caused an Ignis Fatuus the moment I used it. But it's nice to know that almost getting blown up bumped up my magic stat…" Alya said dryly.
Baldr shook his head. "On the contrary, you casted your spell perfectly. If an Ignis Fatuus truly occurred, then I'm afraid we wouldn't speaking right now and Hringhorni would have been reduced to a charred husk."
Alya was now very confused. Her magic wasn't a dud and she didn't botch the spell? Then what exactly happened that almost caused a conflagration?
"Your magic does not simply allow you to create fire. Rather, it grants you the ability to ignite magic itself. Think of yourself as the spark and magic the kindling. Sacra Scintilla also has a secondary effect, granting you control of the conjured flames."
The revelation made Alya think back on what had happened just as she started performing her magic. Her surroundings had suddenly felt like it was on fire, with tiny motes of light that floated in the air and sparks appearing all around especially near the other students who were performing their own magic. The air had felt like it was burning.
"I basically lit a match and threw it in a room full of gasoline…"
Seeing the look of understanding on his student's face, Baldr elaborated further. "Your spell had ignited the magical residue in the air as well as every other spell that had been close by. I am actually quite impressed at the instinctive control you had to minimize the initial blast near you."
She didn't know what to say or even think about this knowledge. She wasn't completely useless after all. All she needed to do is practice her magic with some buckets of water nearby.
But while knowing that she had a future in being a competent mage, it still doesn't excuse her poor performance in class. The School District's grade quota is probably tanking for the first time in years with her enrolment.
Professor Vardenburg had finally returned from who knows where, with a small stack of papers in his hands. He placed them on the table for Baldr to examine and then focused back on Alya, papers in hand and gesturing for her to read them.
What the head teacher had brought with him were all her class reports, detailing everything from her performance in spars to test scores.
The results… were actually decent.
Instead of negative criticisms and below average scores, Alya had actually done decently and was showing noteworthy improvement with her schooling so far.
The headmaster and Professor Vardenburg didn't say a word as the documents, her status update and previous conversation gave her the answers she needed.
She was being hysterical. Also a bit dumb.
Maybe the stress of losing her grandparents had made her temporarily stupid and angsty, since Bell was absolutely right about her not really falling behind the expectations they had for both of them. While Bell was unarguably performing better than her, it didn't mean that she was failing.
"Continue with the excellent performance, Alya. I will begin discussions with Professor Vardenburg about adjusting your magic training to accommodate its 'explosive' effects. You may return to your dorm and get some more rest. While the School District has an extensive insurance plan, we wouldn't want to make postponing classes a common occurrence."
Alya nodded and left the office happier than when she arrived. But one more thought niggled at the back of her mind as she walked.
"…This place has insurance?"