The sun set and rose again as a new day dawned on the pale manor. In a soft bed, the young man stirred, his eyes fluttering open. It was the first day of lessons as a mage for Kai! After grabbing a long blue fruit shaped like a gourd, he headed to the courtyard while eating. Previously, his lessons had all been theory, nothing physical, but today, Kai was excited to finally get something practical going. However, his eyebrows raised when he saw Sylvia standing by a glob of something that looked like liquid metal.
"And this is?" He asked, strolling up to it and inspecting the blob. Her face broke into a small smile, picking up the blob and lazily spinning it above her finger.
"This," she says, drawing out the word. "This is your weapon!"
Kai's eyebrows rose, "Hate to break it to you Sylvia, but… a glob of metal might not make the best weapon."
She glares at him and rolls her eyes. "How observant, but you should not let your awakening get to your head. There are still things you cannot possibly dream of that are achievable with magic. Like this unassuming glob of metal being an incredibly complex stable spell!"
At that, he tilted his head, remembering the term from a previous lesson.
Stable- about a spell refers to an advanced magic circle made by an Elite mage- the stable part comes from the fact that these spells can persist as long as they are not broken.- even if the caster runs out of mana- or dies.'
With that, his respect for Sylvia grew,
'She... really went out of her way to get something so valuable from such a strong mage.'
"Hey, that was probably really expensive, right? Why are you just giving me something so powerful?"
The beautiful priestess rested her hands on her hips.
"Because it's an investment! Well, that and an apology for almost killing you due to my carelessness…" She paused again, Kai opening his mouth as if to speak, but she held up her hand. "Also, like I'm just handing you a lethal weapon, I did no such thing. You will carry the magic circle for the rest of this week during training, and if you reach a satisfactory level, then the magic circle will accept you and integrate itself into your nexus. If it does not approve, then the spell will return to the possession of the church of wind, and you will remain a little country boy under the teaching of a small domain priestess."
After tucking her light hair behind her ear and looking at Kai, he fidgeted while she continued.
"And worrying and acting like you cannot take it simply out of pride, is unfounded. It is not a 'gift' that requires repayment- continue getting more powerful, which will increase the prestige of our church as well, that's all. Don't let ego get in the way of personal power. You're a human, don't forget. By that logic, you shouldn't have used the awakening crystal you found in the beast. This is something you have earned, not a loan."
Kai closed his mouth, accepting her logic. It was not simply bullheadedness- he was independent and prideful due to his upbringing. His parents… Kai choked up whenever he remembered them. They were very unrestrictive, allowing him to do whatever he wanted as long as he got his jobs done. That led to many mistakes and injuries, but he always managed to pull through and fix the problems he caused himself, leading to his independent personality.
"I understand, but would it not be better to wait for me to get used to all of my powers before handing me a spell with the power to level a small town…"
Sylvia laughed at his comment, "Yeah, that is the whole point of the trial week. The spell will not unlock its power until it decides you are the right match." Kai nodded, finally accepting her terms. Eager to move, he rolled his shoulders and clasped his fist with the other.
"So when do we start!"
"Urrgh." Kai gasped, clutching his chest- Sylvia jogged to a stop near him and smiled brightly. Kai looked up at her incredulously.
"How are you not even sweating?" He grits his teeth, continuing to suck in loads of air through his aching lungs. "We have been running for, I dunno. know, hours?"
The priestess smirked at him before checking the magic circle on her wrist. "Hours, yes, in fact, about 2 and a half. As for how I'm okay... ladies always have to keep their secrets!" She grinned before giggling. "Also... I may been using a levitate spell to make my body about as light as your average quill... but hey! Fairs fair, right?"
"I Kai formally hate you, condemned goddess of torture." The recovering mage panted out. "But, I would consider liking you again if I conveniently learned a levitate spell."
She shook her head. "If you were a Caster, I would have no qualms about teaching you something like that, but you are not. Instead- you Kai, are an augmenter of your physical ability. So while the training sucks, you will have something to thank me for at the end of all of this. Also, the lessons at the academy will only be more brutal.
His eyes shone at the mention of the academy, something Sylvia had teased multiple times with the entrance exam coming up within the year.
"So get back to working hard~" she added in a singsong voice. With that, she floated up into the air above the loop and blew a gale of wind through a tiny magic circle, at the piercing whistle that followed, Kai began to run again.
She had lied, they had been running for over 5 hours at the top speed of an initial purple augmenter. She smiled to herself. She was delighted and very proud of Kai's abilities. His personality was immature, but his work ethic was commendable.
The Priestess was only getting started.