She stood there motionless with a bitter expression.

“I can’t.”

She simply said as such. There was a hint of dejection on her face.

“You can’t?”

I got up and faced her.

“I can’t… use Eomancy. My Eomancy instructor told me that, after two months, she never had seen anyone that couldn’t even cast an Origin Circle.”

She muttered while crossing her arms.

Seeing her uneasy expression, I got close to her. She saw me coming and frowned.

“… Don’t try to console me. If I have no aptitude to it, then I simply don’t bother wasting my time on it and keep improving what I’m good at.”

“There’s a saying in my world that you can’t teach a fish to climb a tree.”

“… I’m a fish now?”

I thought I saw a vein popped on her forehead.

“That’s… that’s not what I meant. I’m talking about the approach.”

“Approach?”

She cocked her head questioningly as she stared at me.

“You see, everyone has their own approach of learning. For example, some can benefit greatly from rote learning while some would remain stagnant. Everyone has their own capabilities and weakness but that doesn’t you can’t improve those weaknesses. You just need to change your way of approaching them. When your instructor taught you, how did he or she instruct you to materialize an Origin Circle?”

She pondered for a while.

“She… told us that to materialize the Origin Circle, you have to imagine the surge of the power inside of you flowing through your arm. There were other instructions but it was more or less the same.”

……

That is too vague for her too understand. It’s different from how I perceived the structure and fundamental of an Origin Circle. Dekhine may have been a prideful and a fussy little genius but she is a very thorough person when it comes to instructing.

“The way I see it, she obviously thought that you don’t have the aptitude to use Eomancy, truly judging a book by its cover.”

I scoffed as such. The instructor obviously didn’t want to invest too much time with Katarinova. Any instructor worth his or her salt wouldn’t spout some vague bullshit.

“I wouldn’t blame her though. On our first instruction, I was quite inattentive during the entire lesson as I was struggling to stay awake since I couldn’t sleep that night.”

She chuckled pitifully and I could see that her temper had lessened.

“That doesn’t mean she can evaluate you low and gave you some sub-par teaching. Well, enough about that. Let’s get started first on finding out what is effective for you.”

And so instead of a duel in Eomancy, I was giving a lecture to Katarinova. After an hour or so, I found out that she actually has the understanding but she lack some of the link that connected the fundamental.

She was like a pot filled with water but it has no opening lid to let them out.

“The thing about Origin Circle is that it is a point between our body and the connection with the Planet-Spirit. To materialized one, you need to know where is that point and then call it forth into being. For us who were summoned, it’s easy. Our special abilities are the same as materializing circle, so when you want to cast Eomancy, try doing it like when you activate your special ability.”

I was standing beside her as I instructed her.

She held out her right arm and after a few moments, there was still nothing.

“Use your instinct. Using Eomancy for the instinctual type like you it’s like taking your first breath or your first step in walking. You subconsciously know the steps of the process. Combine this fact with your understanding of using the special ability.”

I stood closer, just a shy away from her face as we both concentrated on what in front of us which was her right arm.

Seeing up close, her face was straining in full concentration with beads of sweat flowing down her forehead.

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After a few seconds, I felt it. It was time.

“You know the word.”

She took a deep breath and-

[Eo,]

An origin circle materialized just in front of her arm. At that instant, her face went ecstatic.

“I… I did it!”

She burst out happily. As she did, the Origin Circle blurred out and cease to materialized but it was result that both of us had looked forward to.

She turned towards me with a ferocious smile and suddenly-

I was bear-hugged by her. A person like me would be glad being hugged by someone of such wild and proud beauty but the force of the hug is what makes the difference whether this was a reward or a cruel and unusual torture.

As of now, I felt like I was thrown and continually sink into the Mariana trench. The pressure of her hug was abnormally strong.

I have always thought how ridiculous the term ‘Boobs of Steel’ was but as of now, I was personally experiencing it myself as her pair of steel was pressing on my chest. I can feel my ribcage cracking at any moment.

I tried to signal her to stop by patting or rather flailing hard on her back with my arms but I think she got the message wrong as her hug had become much stronger.

I felt light in my head and my mind was drifting as though my consciousness was about to slip. As I thought, I still had anaemia.

“Ka-Kata-”

I tried speaking but as I thought, my lungs were constricted and I could barely squeak out any words.

At this rate I will lose my co-

                                  --

I woke up feeling like I had drowned and was resuscitated. I looked around and realized I was at the top of the Watchtower. Krolve was staring at me with worried expression.

I gave him a slight smile to ease his expression.

“How long was I out?”

“If you mean how long you had slept then it’s about two hours. Rino brought you over and she then ran to the village looking for a Healing Eomancer.”

She probably felt guilty about knocking me into unconscious with just a hug. I got up, walked at the edge of the watchtower and stared at the direction where the village was. It took about an hour to reach there, so at any moment…

Bzzt~

Katarinova had teleported here along with a girl who wore a feathered green robe.

She instantly looked at where I had been laid and surprised was etched on her face when she realized I wasn’t there but she quickly scanned around and found me leisurely standing well and proper near the edge.

She sighed in relief.

……

“Now she has to go back walking to the village.”

I curtly remarked.

Katarinova frowned as though she’d been wronged but she still her tongue as she realized this happen because her as well.

The young Eomancer looked back and forth between the two of us with a fearful expression.

I lightly snorted.

“Never mind, since she’s here, she can just ease the aching of my body by giving me a magical massage.”

I was in need of a masseur but after trying out several of the summoned and the natives, I felt that a chimpanzee who went to a masseur training course would have a done a better job.

The light green Eomancy is another alternative but it is less simulating and less effective in a sense but beggars can’t be choosers.

She nodded while her expression remains the same.

I took a sit at the chair that was stationed here used by us during the time we have night watch.

The girl came close and stood behind me.

She then started the session.

Eomancy of Light Green is the magic of healing in this world. It accelerate the growth of the tissues and body cells, speed up the process of haemopoiesis, connecting lost cells of the body to reattach limbs or resetting the bones back to their proper position and so much more.

(‘Eo, Luxiridis, Edela, Erluo’)

She materialized an Eomancy Circle that emitted a light green like those of a flashlight on top of me. I was enveloped by this light and the effects were immediate.

I can feel my bones cracking softly as they were repositioning and my blood humming softly. My body felt light as I continued to bath under this light.

Although, there are no satisfactions you can gain from a physical massage, it does the job.

After a minute, it was done.

“What’s your name, miss?”

“Amila, your honoured summoned.”

She bowed courteously towards me.

She’s a very competent healer, so I thought I would commend her later.

“Now do her too if that is okay with you.”

I smiled as I said that. She relaxed her demeanour when she saw that and she nodded instantly.

I got up from the chair and motioned her to sit there. Katarinova was frowning.

“Ruigne, I don’t need it.”

“You had brought her here anyway so let’s fully utilized the benefit of her expertise.”

She frowned but nonetheless she walked albeit reluctantly towards the chair and sat.

The healing session began and Krolve was also included but since Krolve was considerably tall as he was a tree, Amila only were able to heal only certain parts of his body.

After it was over, Katarinova escorted her back to the village for night was approaching.