Schedule update: Sooo...I might change my update schedule a bit. College and all is truly tiring. I'll still upload as often as I can, but expect it to be once every two days instead of once per day.

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Chew toy(Nysa) POV

I kept my eyes closed, as I was being carried by the wolf. This is the end. I'll die. I am not surviving. Many, many thoughts filled with hopelessness filled my head, as I had no idea what would happen to me. But yet, I felt some hope: If the wolf wanted me to die right now, he would've bitten me in half.

Slowly, I opened my eyes to try to see the surroundings, before quickly closing them again. H-how fast this wolf can run?! Everything was almost a blur, much faster than I could run! Slowly, I tried to calm myself down, and slowly opened my eyes again.

As soon as I opened it, I saw what seemingly was the destination: An old-looking wooden house, in the middle of the forest. But due to the strong wind, I barely could keep it open for more than a second, and quickly closed them again. Just knowing where I was going, made me relieved to some extend.

And so, as soon as the wolf arrived there, I could feel that he slowed down, enough for me to comfortably see the surroundings again. The wolf's tail, which could barely be seen in my position, was wagging left and right happily. I had no idea why the wolf looked so happy, but he soon pushed the door open, with its head, and walked inside.

Inside of the house there was an old man, which wore a simple, brown robe, quite similar to a monk's...even though by his appearance, he looked far from fit. If anything, he looked quite weak. He was currently sitting on a chair, alternating between two tasks: Examining a small, transparent crystal, and writing on a book on the table.

The wolf that was carrying me, came closer to the old man, and even gave the chair a slight head-butt.

"Not right now, Hachi, I am busy." The old man answered, without even bothering to look at the wolf, causing him to whine a bit.

"It is important business, I can't afford to be interrupted right now." He added, still too focused on the research. It was funny, there is a lady here, in a wolf's mouth, that could be bitten in half at any second, and yet, the crystal is the most important matter. Luckily, the wolf agreed with me on the subject, that I was more urgent than any piece of jewelry!

The wolf quickly hopped onto the table, moving around on it a bit, and opened its mouth, to drop me in the middle of the old man's book. "F-finally!" I shouted, slowly trying to stand up. "Old man, can you teach your dog some manners? That guy just kidnapped me!" I quickly added, standing up.

"Wait...what..." The old man replied, trying to understand the situation I guess it was truly something weird. I'm sure that I would also freak out if my pet just dropped a tiny girl on top of my table!

"Uh...right.Let me introduce myself. I am Nysa fateburn, Fae in training, got in a misunderstanding and I was kidnapped by your pet." I replied, trying my best to explain the situation...only to make the old man laugh. He laughed and laughed, almost as if this was the happiest day in his life. Oh gods, tell me he isn't one of these types.

"Hachi, this is great! What a good boy you are!" The old man replied, ignoring me as he picked his dog up, and pulled him into a hug. Well, that is great, I'm apparently a priceless treasure! Everybody must love me! Or...wait. That is closer to a bad thing, isn't it?

"Ahem, I am still here. And uh...I need some help on getting down the table." I said, rubbing the back of my head awkwardly. Maybe I could survive the fall, but there are times a girl should not risk it, especially right now.

"...Can't you just fly off it?" The old man replied, almost as if that was the easiest thing in the world. Well, for sure it was the easiest thing in the world to say! Go on old man, shake your bones a bit and jump off a cliff to see if you'll survive!

"No I can't! I was born with a birth issue that made me unable to fly as well as other fairies, that's why your dog could catch me!" I  replied, sounding a bit angry. It was just an act, to make it more realistic. If I was part of a flying race, but couldn't fly, I should be quite mad about that, right?

"And...that birth issue of yours also stops you from using magic?" The old man replied. Did...did I just met a mind-reader?An omniscient god of old ages?Does he even knows my three sizes? My face was currently in doubt between becoming pale, and turning red.

The man, seemingly sharp enough to notice the change in my face, just laughed. "Don't worry, the answer is obvious. After all, if you could use magic, neither you, nor Hachi would be here." He explained, matter-of-factly...

...So he concluded that I was weak, due to his wolf being able to catch me. It made complete sense...yet I couldn't help but feel bullied. That was a matter of pride, y'know?! At least I survived the encounter!  "Hmph, I am sure you wouldn't have such smug attitude if I could cast spells." I replied, crossing my arms and turned away...only to get distracted enough, to see the ink on the book I was standing on. Apparently, it was notes for creating something named... mana battery?

"...What is up with that, old man? I mean, everything has mana, so why something needs a mana battery?" I replied, already jumping into conclusions. But hey, it was obvious right? As long as one's magic stat wasn't 0, they contained a mana pool.But yet...that declaration only made the old man laugh.

"Fae truly are something, for even a cripple to know what I took years to fully understand." He replied, with a wide grin. "Yes, everything has mana. Rocks, dirt, jewels, you name it, it has mana. But yet, just like there are differences between cups of water, there are differences between mages. This 'mana battery', is just a project to perfect mana containers, so even the weakest mage can make up for the difference against the strongest one, provided he has enough containers, and are skilled enough." He explained.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

...Wait....Isn't that...isn't that game-breaking?! For even a level 1 wizard to have endless amount of mana? I-isn't that...something that must not fall in the wrong hands, due to how much power it can give to a single person? And above all...isn't it extremely dangerous to develop, and maybe even illegal? But there was something else I couldn't help but wonder...

"Old man, are you a wizard?" I asked curiously. If he worked with magic stuff, then he should know a lot...probably enough to even teach me about it. He seemed some sort of an old, wise mentor after all.

But yet, he just smiled widely. "Wizard is not a title fit for me. If I need a title that describes me well, is 'magical scholar', since unlike many of the idiots they call wizards, I research the depths of the theory of magic." He replied, laughing.  "But I'm retired, and I plan to live the rest of my days peacefully. The mana stone is just a pet project of mine. I doubt it can work either way, can't even find a way to make the stone absorb mana after the enchantment is placed." 

"...Can you teach me magic, so I can help you on this project?" I replied, with a wide grin. "I mean, I might not be good at magic just yet, but I might even surpass you if I get started! And two heads think better than one, so please teach me!" I declared, boldly.

"Nope." Yet, it was just flat-out rejected. I expected to be rejected...but not this easily! C'mon, have some sort of hesitation in that cruel heart of yours! Please?!

"W-wait, what?! But I'm a fae, one of the best at magic! I can't go magic-less, right? I'll die! I swear I'll die if I can't get help!" I declared, trying to look as sad and desperate as possible.

"Pleaaaaseeeee?" I said, doing the puppy eye tactics. It never failed for me, ever! The only one that ever managed to resist this stare was my soul-less sister, who didn't want to share her chocolate! Anybody else kneeled and obeyed my will in the moment I did this.

"...5 days." The old man said, after a few seconds...with a rather stern, annoyed glare, rather than the relaxed way he was before he met me.

"5 days? 5 days for what?" I ask. 5 days was a long time, at least for me. I'm still young, and this game was just released, I must keep adventuring!

"I'll only teach you magic for five days. After that, you are on your own." He replied...and I knew his tone. Any sort of disagreement will only lower the time...but yet...

"Nope, I'll not be on my own! I'll use the knowledge I learn to help you on your experiments!" I replied, without hesitation. Maybe that would move his feelings a bit.

"...the training starts tomorrow.Go to sleep early, wake up even earlier." He replied, almost as if my words fell in deaf years. What sort of cruel, psychopathic old man wouldn't smile by being helped by a cute little girl like myself?! There must be some screws loose in that man's head! As I thought that, my thoughts were interrupted by another window.

Quest: Magic 101Type: One-timeDifficulty: C+'Old man' has accepted you as an apprentice on magic, but also as a partner on developing a mana battery! You must not only learn magic in 5 days, but also give him the inspiration he needs to finish his life-long project!Rewards:

Mana battery(small)

Mana battery recipe

Magic scholar classFail conditions:

Old man's intimacy getting too low

Old man's death

time limit: 5 days

Wow...just wow. I could only stare at the quest, with mouth wide-open. This was...this was good, right? To get a quest this early in the game, and one-time too! Not only that, but the quest is something I was already going to do, so accepting it is no issue at all! "Accept!" I said, without any hesitation.

...I just realized I had said something weird. But thankfully, it seems that both Hachi, and the old man have left by the time I accepted the quest.

Moving over one of the pages of the book, I decided to use it as a blanket, to try to fall asleep...but yet, I could not help but wonder. Wonder how the training will proceed tomorrow.

I considered logging off, but the time in the real world passes so much slower than in the game. I've even heard, once or twice, that for every four hours in-game, just one hour passes outside of it. But what...what if I fall asleep in the game? Wouldn't that be a full nap in just 2 hours? Deciding to experiment on that, and knowing that my sister didn't stop playing yet, and my father was probably busy with deadlines, there was little to nothing to loose.

Not being able to fall asleep, I could only stare at the celling, wondering how magic would work.

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Author's commentary: Heeey folks! So, this chapter was a rather interesting experience for me to write, and many things ended up making me either unsatisfied, or very proud of myself. I did not introduce the old man's name just yet on purpose too, but for now, treat him as if his name was 'old man'. As for him acting like that...well, I'll make a sidestory for him after the quest ends. ^_^