Chapter 46: Magic Lessons That Lead to Romance
It had been around two weeks since Subaru had arrived to this new world, and by now, his injuries were all healed, and he was now being put to work. What the work was actually going to be, he didn't know.
Right now, Subaru was following Hanasha to a specific area in the forest. "So... what am I gonna be doing?"
"You'll start with farm work." Hanasha said, stopping at a farming area in the forest.
"Huh, I've never heard of a farm in a forest. Around or near a forest, sure, but never inside one. Don't farms usually need sunlight to help grow stuff properly?" Subaru questioned, wondering how even mundane things worked in this world.
"It's not a conventional forest. We don't harvest things such as wheat or grapes. We cultivate foods that naturally grow in our forest, with our assistance."
Subaru raised an eyebrow. "Assistance?"
"We grow berries in the right place, fertilize the grounds for mushrooms, and plant conventional fruit trees," the amethyst-eyed man explained.
"Ah, got it." Subaru gave him a thumbs-up.
"Here, take this hoe," Hanasha said, tossing Subaru the farm equipment.
Subaru managed to grab it midair. "Okay... am I going to plant something?"
"Indeed you are. See this small berry?" Hanasha asked, holding up said berry for Subaru to see. "This is a bokko fruit. They increase your mana. You'll be planting their seeds in the ground, after you plow the field."
Subaru had to process that for a second. "Increase my mana... you mean like... Magic?"
Hanasha gave him a deadpanned look. "Yes. Like magic."
Subaru just looked amazed at that. A fruit that gives you mana. "Awesome…'
"Quit daydreaming. Get to work."
Subaru saluted to the half-elf. "Yes sir!"
Half a day of hard work later, and Subaru had to admit, he already hated this. He had never done manual labor before, and his body already felt like it wanted to die.
Hanasha was supervising Subaru the whole time, correcting errors he saw in Subaru's technique. When the day was over, the results were... less than desirable.
"Pathetic," Was all Hanasha commented on the otherworlder's work.
"Hey, it's still my first day!" Subaru snapped at him.
"Have you never done farm work before?" Hanasha simply asked.
"Of course not! I was a former scholar! Or, whatever passes as one here!"
Now it made sense to the half-elf. "So, you grew up in populated areas where you could simply "buy" your food. No wonder you were so inexperienced."
"That's what I've been trying to say!"
Hanasha didn't relent one bit. "That is no excuse for inadequacy. Do better."
"Yeah, yeah, I won't accomplish anything "hoeing" around… get it?" Subaru said with a grin, hoping for a reaction.
"No," Hanasha deadpanned. "Now go eat dinner and rest up for tomorrow."
"Sheesh. Tough crowd." Subaru watched as Hanasha walked back to the village.
Satella walks up to him. "Yeah, Hanasha is a bit of a perfectionist."
"He's a lot of things, isn't he?" Subaru said.
"Yeah, it's no wonder he's the strongest mage in Elior." Satella said as she watched her brother walk out of sight.
That reminded Subaru of what he wanted to ask. "Mage… Oh, yeah! This world has magic in it, right? What's it like?"
"Huh? Doesn't your world also have Magic?" Satella asked as if it was common knowledge.
"I mean, my world knows of it. As a concept that doesn't exist legitimately."
"Wait... your world... has no magic?" Satella asked, slightly horrified. An entire world with magic? Without mana…?
"Not unless you count stage magic."
"Stage... magic?" Satella didn't understand what that meant.
"Yeah, you know, pulling rabbits out of hats, card tricks, sawing pretty ladies in half, escape acts ala Harry Houndini, that kind of thing?" the Japanese teenager said.
Satella just blinked at that, unsure what to think. "I see... well, Nirn's Magic is much more... practical than that."
"Yeah, I figured as much," Subaru chuckled.
Satella regained herself and cleared her throat. "Well, what do you want to know?"
"Everything you can tell me," Subaru said.
Satella nodded, and sat on a bench. She gestured for Subaru to sit down too. "Okay... well, Magic on Nirn falls into three broad categories depending on their origins and what they do. There's Primal Magic, Soul Magic, and Universal Magic."
Subaru nodded and sat down beside Satella. "And they split further from that?"
Satella nodded. "They do. Primal Magic is the manipulation of the elements. You usually have to be born with an affinity for an element to use it, but there are methods to get around that. There are six elements in Primal Magic, being Fire, Water, Earth, Air, Yang, and Yin."
"Yang and Yin? So, Light and Dark?"
"Correct. I possess an affinity for Yin, while Hanasha has one for Yang." Satella said, gesturing to herself.
Subaru nodded at that. Twins that have the opposite elements. One warm, and the other cold. How fitting. "Cool. Any way to detect it?"
"Spirits can naturally detect an elemental affinity, so we can ask Guese to see if you have one."
"Sweet. And the other two categories? What makes them different?" Subaru asked, curious to know what set them apart.
"Next, we have Universal Magic. Unlike Primal Magic, anyone can learn and utilize all aspects of it. All you need to know is how to use it. So long as your Gate is working properly." Satella explained, generating a simple "Flames" spell for example.
"Interesting…" Subaru nodded along to that. "What's it like? Also, what's a Gate?"
"Your Gate is like a doorway to the mana inside your body," the silver-haired half-elf explained. "A Gate will naturally absorb mana from the atmosphere. However, if you release more mana than your Gate can handle, it will end up breaking and you will lose your ability to use Magic. Even worse, you would suffer from mana poisoning which can be fatal."
Subaru grit his teeth. "Yeah, I definitely don't want that."
Satella nodded, emphasizing the danger of damaging your gate. "Anyways, Universal Magic comes in five subsets. Destruction, which focuses on combat with certain elements. Conjuration, which lets you summon monsters and other beings to fight for you. Alteration, which allows you to change yourself or something else in certain ways. Illusion, which allows you to alter behavior and emotion. And Restoration, which grants healing and defensive capabilities."
"Ah, so different from the elements."
Satella nodded at Subaru's assessment. "Yes. With Universal Magic, you can use Flame, Frost, and Spark spells. Although, they are a bit weaker than Primal Magic spells."
"And they fall under what categories? Destruction, maybe?"
"Correct. Although, extremely skilled mages can combine these elements to form Chaos Magic. A combination of all three that is extremely powerful. It can even rival the strongest Primal spells."
"Sounds edgy," the tracksuit-wearing teen joked.
Satella raised an eyebrow at his comment. "How? It's not sharp at all."
Subaru clicked his tongue. "Sorry, old world slang."
"Anyways, last is Soul Magic."
Subaru's eyes widened at that. "Oooh, sounds pretty cool. What is it?"
"Soul Magic comes from Gwyn, the Lord of Cinder. It has three major forms. Pyromancies, Miracles, and Sorceries."
"Pyromanices I can understand from the terminology alone, but the other two?"
"As its name implies, Pyromancies are Fire Magic, though I don't know how it differentiates from the other two fire magics. Miracles come from Gwyn's teachings. They are mostly described as "Holy magic", but Sorceries come from the Dragon: Seath the Scaleless."
"Got it, cleric spells from in-world Zeus and weird dragon magic."
Satella lowered her head a bit. "I don't know much about Soul Magic, I'm afraid. Sorry I can't tell you more."
"It's cool." Subaru gave her a thumbs-up. "At least it's a start."
Satella then looked at Subaru in concern. "Though, now that I think about it, if your world doesn't have mana, then you should probably have your Gate checked just in case. I have no idea how it will react to our atmosphere, if it hasn't already…"
Subaru nodded, not wanting to get sick or something just by being here. "Aight, let's head over to Geuse."
Subaru and Satella made their way over to Guese, who was currently reading a book in front of his porch. He soon took notice of their presence as they approached him.
"Ah, greetings Satella-sama, Natsuki-san. Did you need something?"
Satella nodded. "Mm-hm. We'd like to know how Subaru's Gate is reacting to the mana."
"Is something wrong with it?" the green-haired man asked.
"We don't know," Subaru said. "Hell, we don't even know if I have one. So… care to look?"
Guese merely looked confused at the request. "Of course, but why would you not have a Gate?"
Subaru shrugged. "Dunno, otherworldly physiology?"
"Apparently, Subaru's world has no Mana, so his people might not have Gates." Satella explained the situation.
"Ah, I see the problem," the green-haired man said, as he approached Subaru. Guese examined Subaru's chest for a few minutes, before the results were in.
"Okay, I have good news and... well, not bad news, but not good."
"Just give it to me straight, man," the nasty-eyed boy said.
Guese put his hand to his chin while pondering. "You do indeed have a Gate, so you do have the potential to use magic."
"Great!" Subaru cheered. "So, what's the bad news?"
"However, your Gate seems... well, equivalent to a newborn. So, it's weak and not able to cast spells safely yet. It's likely because you grew up in a world without mana that your Gate had no need to develop, so it's always stayed the same all your life."
The Japanese teenager sighed. "Let me guess, I can't use it right away, and even if it adapts to the environment, I'll still have to be careful?"
"At least for now. Over time, your Gate will increase and you will be able to use spells without issue, so long as you have proper training."
"Great! Who's willing to teach me?" Subaru asked.
"Well, does Subaru have an affinity for Primal Magic? It would be good to know before he begins any training. If not, he may have to resort to Universal Magic."
Geuse nodded, having already checked Subaru's affinity. "Yes, he does. It's Yin, surprisingly."
"Awesome! Isn't that the same as you, Satella-tan?!"
Satella, meanwhile, felt a little fuzzy at that. "Y-yes, it is."
"So, what's Yin Magic about? Darkness manipulation? Or can I control shadows? Or go invisible at night? Or maybe even engulf the entire world in a centuries-long darkness?!"
Satella couldn't help but giggle at his enthusiasm. "You can do the first two options, but you can also manipulate space, along with disorienting your opponents."
"Awesome…"
"If you're going to train him, Satella, I suggest he does it after work," Geuse said. "His classes will have to be short, and farm labor should give him time for his Gate to grow."
Satella nodded. "I understand, Guese. Thank you for your help."
And so, for the next few months, Subaru's daily routine was the same: Wake up, do some sort of manual labor under Hanasha's watchful eye, then learn magic under Satella, and repeat.
Simple and to the point.
Overtime, Subaru was doing his best to win over Satella's heart with his goofy antics when they were alone. Unfortunately, most of his flirting flew over Satella's head and just confused her. The only times she wasn't confused was when he was direct and called her "beautiful" or "elegant".
By the time his third month in the new world was over, he had had it. His progress on the romance front was going nowhere, and it was getting on his last nerves.
Subaru knew that his constant flirting was getting nowhere, so he came to a decision. He had to be as direct as possible. No side stepping or stupid comments Satella wouldn't get. He needed to tell her how he felt straight to her angelic face!
Okay, Subaru, today's the day, he thought to himself. There was no hard labor or magic training today, so your mind and body are both clear. It's late afternoon, so it's the perfect atmosphere. All that's left now is walk right up to Satella and make your move.
Subaru's thoughts died down as he made his way over to Satella's location, and found her performing some kind of... spell? Ritual?
The Half-Elf was manipulating Minya crystals, which Subaru learned were part of Yin Magic, in a circular form, and tried to gather mana in the center. After a minute of concentration, it was unsuccessful and the crystals vanished into nothingness.
Satella sighed. "Not again…"
"Welp," Subaru decided to speak up. "Trouble concentrating again?"
The amethyst-eyed girl was caught by surprise, but calmed down as soon as she saw who that voice belonged to. "Oh, Subaru! I didn't hear you coming…"
"My training has been paying off." Subaru commented with a grin.
"Or I was just too distracted on this…"
"Yeah, it's probably the latter."
"I can gather the mana up, but... I can't seem to fire it." Subaru had watched Satella trying to cast that spell for months. It was supposed to be the strongest spell in the entire world, able to pierce through Time-Space itself and ignore all conventional durability. It sounded like the Kamehameha of all spells.
"Can't visualize it?"
"That's not the problem. I've already visualized the spell, but... it feels like something's missing."
"Hm." Subaru nodded in understanding. "Any clue to what that is?"
"I don't know... I have the necessary Mana, I have the visualization, I've even come up with a proper incantation, but…" Satella just sighs in disappointment.
"...But what?"
"Am I... just not good enough to cast it?"
Subaru was shocked she would even think that. "What? No, of course you are!"
Satella looked up to him in surprise. "Huh?"
"You were able to teach me, a complete novice!" Subaru said, pointing to himself, before pointing at her. "If I can do a dumbass El Minya spell, you can do twice as better!"
Satella still didn't look convinced. "But I've been trying for nearly a year…"
"Satella, look at me."
Satella did so, and she saw no doubt or misgivings of any kind in his eyes.
"You've got this. You know why?"
"...Why?"
"Because you're Satella," he said, with a soft smile.
"Because... I am... me...?"
Subaru nodded in certainty. "And absolutely no one else."
Satella had no idea what she was feeling right now. Her heart was beating faster, her face was heating up, and her belly was all warm and fuzzy.
His smile never left his face. "So, fire off that spell, why don't ya?"
Satella nodded. She turned around and created dozens of Minya crystals, and moved them to form another circle. Mana built up the center, and it was ready to fire. She looked back to Subaru, and recalled her earlier lessons to him.
"Magic is held together by the body, and tempered by the mind. However, the power of a spell comes from the heart. A balance is required from all three, and must be handled with care."
Satella finally knew what she was missing. She had the body to hold it together, and the mind to meld it to her will, but she was missing the heart to use it.
"Fire," he whispered into her ear.
Satella nodded, and finally cast the incantation.
"Omen of Disaster."
The Minya crystals began to spin quickly around the energy, before it was finally let loose in a powerful beam that nearly threw Satella off her feet.
BYOOOOOM!
HOLY JESUS! Subaru screamed into his mind.
The force was so great that Subaru had to hold Satella from behind to keep her from falling down. After nearly half a minute of firing, Satella finally stopped as she slumped to the ground in exhaustion.
"You gotta teach me that someday…"
"Are you sure that's a good idea...?" Satella asked.
"Hell yeah!" Subaru pumped his fist into the air. "Do you know how fucking cool that was?! You were like a full-blown magical girl out there! Awesome!"
Satella giggled a bit at Subaru's… Subaruness. "Whatever you say…"
Subaru was silent for a few seconds. He knew he was supposed to confess, but Satella was in the middle of a breakthrough, and he didn't want to overshadow her breakthrough with his selfishness.
"Thank you, Subaru... I couldn't have done this without your help."
"No problem," Subaru said, hugging her. "Always happy to help."
Satella couldn't stop staring at Subaru, unable to understand what she felt right now. What am I... feeling...?
Subaru coughed into his hand. "Well, I guess I'll be going now —"
"What do you think you're doing...? Holding my sister like that...?"
The black-haired teen almost jumped out of his skin, as he saw Hanasha approaching the two of them, glaring at the human boy all the while. He immediately pulled his hands off Satella, and scooted away from her.
"What?! Nothing! Not at all! I wasn't holding her at all! Well, gotta go, see ya!"
Subaru quickly ran off, while Hanasha sighed in annoyance before checking up on his sister.
"Are you well?" he asked.
"Somewhat annoyed," Satella said, glaring at him.
"Over him?" Hanasha asked.
"Actually, no." That was all Satella said, which just left the mage confused.
"Do you need help returning to your room?"
"I'm not a child, brother," Satella snapped, as she marched off into the woods.
"...Perhaps, but you can still act like one at times." Hanasha mumbled to himself, as he saw his sister walk off back to the village.
A few hours later, and after dinner, Subaru was in his cabin, cursing himself. He was so stupid! Why did he ever think he could ask Satella out?! He couldn't talk to her —
Knock-knock.
Subaru jumped out of his skin, before he calmed down, and said, "Enter."
The door opened, and… It was Satella, who walked over to where he was.
"Oh, hey…" Subaru sweated a bit. "Shouldn't you be asleep?"
"I couldn't sleep…" Satella answered. "I believe I might be sick."
Subaru looked shocked and concerned. "Sick?! Oh God, is it contagious?!"
"I don't know... it just started happening earlier when you helped me with my spell."
"Well, what are the symptoms?" he asked.
Satella started to explain what she knew, "Well, my heart is beating faster than normal, my stomach feels strange, but it does not hurt, and my face is hotter than usual."
Subaru cringed internally as he realized what those symptoms she listed were.
"However, they only seem to occur around you, or when I am thinking about you…"
The nasty-eyed teenager gulped. "Ohh… is that so…?"
"I was wondering if you had any insight as to what is happening to me…"
Subaru didn't know what to do. On that one hand, this is what he wanted, but on the other hand, he felt like a scumbag.
"Subaru, is everything okay?" Satella asked, concerned.
Gulping, Subaru decided to bite the bullet. It was time to tell Satella the truth. Satella was unsure what was happening. Was Subaru suffering from her sickness as well? Should she leave?
"...It's love."
"Huh?"
"What you're feeling is love. For me."
Satella tried to understand what Subaru meant. "Love? Like... the love I have for my family?"
"No. What you feel for them is familial love, love for parents and siblings. What you feel for me… is romantic love. Like, that between parents… the thing that results in children…"
Satella's eyes widened at that. "Romantic... love...?"
Subaru nodded. "Yeah. And you're not the only one."
"I'm... not?" Someone else… was feeling this kind of love.
Subaru took a deep breath to prepare himself. "Satella… I'm in love with you."
Satella froze as she heard that. Subaru... was in love with her?
Subaru sighed. "I've liked you since the moment I laid eyes on you, since the day you saved my life. And from there, my feelings only grew stronger for you, each and every day."
Satella was trying to process what she was hearing. "You... have feelings... for... me?"
He nodded. "I do, and I can't deny them anymore. I'm in love with you, Satella."
Satella was stunned. She didn't know what to think. Subaru was in love with her... and she was apparently in love with Subaru. She had always dreamed of something like this... so why?
Why wasn't she happy?
Why was she... crying?
Subaru started to panic as he saw her tears. "I'm sorry… I didn't mean to —"
"No... you didn't do anything wrong. It's all because of me."
"Because of you?"
"Subaru... you will only live for another eighty years or so... I have another five hundred ahead of me. If I love you... then I will lose you. I will live long after you are gone... I'm sorry…" Satella explained as she continued crying.
"Then I'll halt my aging!" Subaru said.
"How?" she tearfully asked. Magic can't halt aging...
"Then I'll become an Undead."
Satella's eyes widened in horror. "NO!"
"No?!"
"No... you can't do that... becoming an Undead for me... I would never forgive myself…"
"It's worth the risk," he said.
Satella shook her head, adamantly denying that possibility. "Not to me, it isn't. Please, Subaru... you would only be able to spend a few centuries with me while being forced to wander Nirn forever."
"A few centuries is all I need."
"You would go mad... Hollow... you wouldn't remember me... or anyone."
"No, I won't. If I have your memory with me, I'll live forever with a smile."
"But... we would never be reunited in Aetherius…"
Subaru then had another idea. "Then… I could wait for you."
"Wait… for me?"
"In Aetherius, after I die. I could wait for you. With your memory, three hundred years would only feel like mere seconds. Then, we could have all of eternity together. Just you and me."
"No…" Satella said, holding his shoulders. "We don't know if your spirit could move on to Aetherius… you could be stuck on Nirn forever, while my spirit would move on..."
"Who's to say that? I'm now part of this world, I could go to Aetherius with you!"
Satella didn't know what to say. Subaru truly was determined to be with her. "... You... but I…"
Subaru grabbed her hands and looked into her eyes. "I know it's selfish of me to ask this of you, to have you live for centuries while I'm long gone, but please… let me live a lifetime of happiness alongside you."
Satella couldn't hold her tears back anymore. She hugged Subaru with all her heart and cried into his chest.
At that moment, as Subaru held her, he vowed to himself that he would love this woman and do everything in his power to make her happy… for as long as he lived.
Author's Note: The second part of our prequel memories mini-series… thingy… is here, and our main ship has sailed! Let's hope that nothing bad happens in the future!
(For those of you wondering, Omen of Disaster is an original spell I came up with for one of my fanfics. It's basically a beam that ignores any and all defenses, but at the cost of extremely high mana consumption. Even those with the highest mana pools couldn't fire it for long.) With that lore drop out of the way, let's check out the comments!
5queso: You were logging into a game for almost three years? Yikes, and I thought my Reddit streak was bad… Anyways, here's some more foreshadowing. Have fun.
VinHD15: I mean, you're not wrong.
Kifhjoofff: Sí, cuando escribíamos esto, en realidad no planeábamos hacer un flashback, pero nos gustó, así que lo conservamos. Espero que hayas disfrutado el capítulo de esta semana.
Anyways, back to the regular old shilling…
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Thanks for reading, and once again, see you next time!
- Ernalore & Infinite the Celestian