The next day started off quietly.

María and Aria ate breakfast together in silence, settling into their usual routine. It wasn’t until after breakfast that Hugo showed up, knocking on the door of the room where they both slept.

When María opened it, she noticed the dark circles under his eyes.

‘Did he not sleep well?’ María wondered, feeling a small pang of concern for the wizard.

However, that concern quickly faded when they entered the room where they had been working the day before.

The place was a mess. Open books, scattered papers on the floor, magical instruments in disarray…

María’s heart sped up at the sight of the chaos.

‘What a disaster!’ María screamed internally, resisting the urge to panic.

Still, she forced herself to keep calm, taking a deep breath.

‘It’s not that bad…’ María repeated to herself, even though she was suffering on the inside.

Without saying a word, she began picking up the papers from the floor while Hugo and Aria immediately got to work.

Sometimes, María glanced up from her task to watch Hugo cast small spells, testing various hypotheses that Aria proposed with her usual calm.

It was fascinating how they worked together. Aria, with her analytical mind, formulated questions and theories, while Hugo patiently tested them out.

The day passed much like the one before, but this time, Hugo used his magic more frequently, conjuring small illusions, gusts of wind, or flashes of light to experiment with Aria.

María, meanwhile, stayed busy cleaning, moving quickly around the room so as not to interrupt their work.

Every now and then, she’d stop to observe, intrigued by the exchange of knowledge, but she always went back to her task.

‘I can’t just stand around doing nothing while they work…’ María thought, trying to motivate herself.

The hours flew by, and before they knew it, night had fallen.

María lit a few candles to illuminate the room, just as Hugo handed Aria a small object.

At first, María didn’t realize what it was, but after looking more closely, she saw it was a wand.

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It was a thin wooden stick, almost plain in appearance, but embedded with small diamond fragments that shimmered faintly in the candlelight.

María couldn’t help but get a little closer, her curiosity piqued by the object.

“What spell are you going to teach me?” Aria asked, holding the wand in her small hand, but with the same confidence as if she were an expert with such artifacts.

Hugo gave a slight smile, though his tired eyes barely showed any emotion.

“We’ll start with something simple,” Hugo replied, snapping his fingers.

In an instant, all the candles in the room went out, plunging them into total darkness.

María, who had been near the table cleaning, froze in place.

The sudden darkness enveloped her, and for a moment, her heart skipped a beat.

‘What’s happening?!’

But then she remembered it was part of Aria’s training.

‘Simple, Hugo said… how simple can it be in total darkness?’ María wondered, confused.

The darkness in the room was absolute, so thick María could barely make out the silhouettes of Hugo and Aria.

A faint silence fell over them, broken only by the soft breathing of the three people present.

María’s heart was still racing, but she tried to stay calm, trusting that Hugo knew what he was doing.

“Listen carefully, Aria,” Hugo began in a low but firm voice, his tone serious. “What we’re going to do is a basic illumination spell. You don’t need to understand everything right away, just follow my instructions. Hold the wand with both hands and focus on the energy around you.”

Aria, as always, showed no signs of nervousness.

Even though the darkness might have intimidated anyone else, she simply followed Hugo’s instructions with calm precision.

She gripped the wand in her small hands and nodded.

“Good. Now close your eyes and take a deep breath. The mana flowing around you, you can feel it, but it’s not ready to be used yet. I want you to visualize that flow inside you as a calm river… and slowly guide it toward the wand. It should be like a fine thread of energy, nothing abrupt or forced.”

María watched from her spot, completely engrossed.

‘How does Aria do it so easily?’ María wondered, impressed by the little girl’s composure.

“When you feel the mana reach the wand,” Hugo continued, “imagine filling it with that energy. Don’t rush, Aria. The illumination spell is simple, but if you rush the process, it won’t work. You must be patient.”

Several seconds passed, during which the tension in the room felt palpable, until finally, a faint light began to glow from the tip of the wand.

At first, it was a weak flicker, but then it grew in intensity, filling the room with a soft glow that illuminated everyone’s faces.

Hugo smiled with satisfaction.

“Not bad, Aria.”

María, who had been holding her breath, let it out all at once.

“Is she healed already?” María asked, surprised by how quickly Aria had managed to make the wand glow.

Hugo let out a small laugh and shook his head.

“No, I haven’t healed her yet. But this is a good sign. Support tools like this wand work for her to channel mana and perform magic. That, at least, is a relief.”

María looked at him, confused.

“Relief? Why? What do you mean?”

Hugo wiped the sweat from his forehead.

“To be honest, I was a bit scared imagining what would happen if I couldn’t get Aria to use magic by tomorrow. Breaking a promise with a creature as creepy as that isn’t something anyone wants to do.”

As he said this, Hugo burst out laughing.

His laughter echoed in the dimly lit room. María watched him, a mix of skepticism and concern on her face.

‘Has he lost his mind?’ María wondered, but decided not to say anything.

Hugo’s laughter seemed genuine, even though, to her, the situation didn’t seem that funny.