After a morning of rigorous training, Leona, Krieg, Setsuna, Yuna, Miyamoto, Ren, Tomoe and Robert were preparing to eat outside. The gentle breeze kept the hearty beef stew’s aroma over the table as it was slowly cooking over the campfire on a big enough pot to feed all eight people.

“Master’s cooking on a day off.” Ren seemed enthusiastic about it as he was putting on the bowls for each one. “If this isn’t my lucky day I don’t know what is.”

“Flattery won’t make your training any easier, Ren.” Robert said as he was finishing stirring the stew. “It should be ready soon. How is the rice on your end, Tomoe?”

“All done.”

“Okay, wrap it in towels so it steams the rice.”

“Understood.”

The maid took the thick casting iron pot out of the fire and placed it on a thick white towel before wrapping it in the textile to trap the steam inside.

In the meantime, Leona was reading a small book labeled as ‘Aetherial Observations’. A guideline for magic written by none other than Robert himself.

“Interesting…” She muttered under her breath as she was almost literally devouring the book. “So as long as I can visualize the spell I want to cast, the possibilities are endless…”

She shifted her weight on the wooden chair which made her tilt to the right. Robert walked over the table and glanced at the page she was reading.

“Excluding the obvious restriction from one’s own mana pool—it is possible to cast multiple spells at once with the usage of runic magic and direct spellcasting.”

Without taking her eyes off the page, she asked.

“Wouldn’t it be possible to implement partial summoning alongside direct casting?”

“Partial summoning is simply a method to diminish the usage of mana rather than being another technique of spellcasting.”

“Isn’t partial summoning the doing of spirits?”

“No, partial summoning involves using spirits of a certain element to help you conceive a spell into existence through the usage of their mana combined with your own.” He picked the fork and placed it beside the spoon that was beside her empty bowl. “They complement your spells rather than being a different one. Summoning magic on the other hand, has an elemental spirit cast the spell for you, though it’s less reliable and accurate, it allows the user to unleash multiple spells at once.”

That made her turn her attention at him.

“Wait but Yuna said that summoning magic was exclusively tied to tiny spirits that-”

Robert shook his fingers, interrupting her while offering an explanation of his own.

“I don’t give her all the answers because in a way, that is her own training that I planned out for her as a goal to keep her mind focused, you on the other hand, already got a goal of your own, there is hardly any need for you to concern yourself with something so esoteric such as magic theory.”

She raised an eyebrow.

“So you don’t mind giving me the answers?”

“Not if they pertain to your goal, no.”

With a subtle sigh, she continued.

“I still don’t understand ‘your’ goals, Robert.”

“You don’t need to.” He tapped on the book in her hand. “Close it before we start eating.”

He turned around and lowered the fire with a dose of ice and wind magic combined. Leona closed the book and was about to settle it on the table before Setsuna grabbed it with her left hand as she wore a faint smile on her face.

“I can store it for you if you want.”

“Ah, that would be great, thank you.”

“No problem.”

The shrine maiden used the staff on her right hand to seemingly open a rift in the air and chuck the book inside of it. That by itself left Leona with a dropped jaw as she glanced at Setsuna with an incredulous look on her face.

“Wait… what was that?”

“Hm? Oh, that?” Setsuna pointed at where previously there was a rift of darkness in the air. “It’s a small application of Greater Teleportation. I just sent the book back to the house.”

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“I thought it could only be used to move people, not things.”

“Well… if it only moved people, any time my father teleported anyone, they would arrive buck naked at their destination.” Leona frowned her brows with a slightly disgusted look on her face. “Haha, I know it sounds strange, but it’s true. The first time I managed to teleport myself, I ended up falling naked in the ocean.”

Leona shifted around on her seat once again and held her chin between her thumb and index finger.

“How do you even practice then? Because it sounds like a potentially deadly spell if you don’t do it correctly.”

“Because it is. It’s called Greater Teleportation because of the accuracy, the spell prior to it is called Teleportation which simply takes an object or person to an approximate distance of their intended destination, which can end up being a solid wall or worse, another living being.” She raised her staff a bit off the ground as if to show it to her. “Father even forbade me from using the staff while practicing since it empowers every spell I cast by two-fold which could end up in some disastrous results.”

“I see… thank you for sharing all of this.”

“It’s nothing, as your senior in magic, I feel it would be a waste for me to not impart some of my own knowledge to you.”

“I really appreciate it.”

On the other side of the table, Yuna was settling down glass cups for everyone while looking at Leona and her older sister in a lively chit-chat. She glanced down with a slight hint of sadness in her eyes.

“Is something wrong, young lady?”

Ren asked her as she was right beside him.

“Hm? Oh, no, nothing Ren.” She forced a smile while offering him an empty glass. “Here. This is yours.”

He felt something was wrong but he gave her a faint smile and ruffled her hair a bit.

“Thank you, young lady.”

“You’re welcome.”

She then proceeded to put cups for everyone before returning to her seat by the campfire where Robert was tending the stew.

“Have you finished putting out the cups?”

Robert asked without taking his eyes off the stew.

“Yes, dad.”

“Hm. Good work.” He scooped out a portion of stew from the pot before putting it in an azure bowl decorated with flowers forming from the white parts of the ceramic. “Here, the first serving is all yours.” After placing the food in front of her, he kneeled beside her and put his rather large hand on her small shoulder. “I know you’re feeling down from what happened but cheer up, I’m sure Leona doesn’t resent you.”

“Dad…”

He smiled at her before gently pitching her left cheek.

“You’re doing great. All you need to learn is to be patient.” He then stood up and raised his voice. “Stew’s ready, come get a portion for yourself before it gets cold!”

Everyone formed a line in front of the cooking pot and chatted as they waited for their turn to get some of the stew. Leona’s portion was served by Krieg as he was the first to get in line.

“Here you go, Leona.”

He placed the bowl in front of her. The rich stew sauce was spread around a small pile of rice which made it look like an isolated island in the middle of a sea of sauce.

“Thank you, Krieg.”

She picked the spoon and started to dig in. The rich flavor and aroma made her close her eyes as she appreciated the taste.

At the same time, it felt like everything she read up about magic so far was indeed true. The reserves that she had spent during training were replenishing themselves as she continued her meal.

‘Aether truly is a closed loop.’

Was her first thought as she could clearly feel the distinction between aether and mana. Before, mana felt just like fatigue that comes from exertion, not too unlike sleep. However, now she was able to tell that aether and mana were similar to the body and muscles in the sense that even if magic fails at some point, it can always be recovered as long as she doesn’t overexert herself.

‘One is able to build mana reserves just how one builds muscle.’

A smile started to curl on her face as she finally could perceive what was going on inside her own body.

“You’ll end up with a stiff mouth if you smile so much.” Robert said as he sat by Leona’s left side. “Did you discover something?”

“The difference between aether and mana is very noticeable once you have a grasp of their concepts.”

“Uh huh…” He raised both eyebrows in surprise. “You catch on quickly.”

“How did you discover about aether anyway? I thought mana was stored in the soul.”

He was in the middle of a spoon-full of stew but then he settled it back in the bowl.

“Well, the soul must be made out of something. It couldn’t be mana otherwise it would be diluted in the presence of large amounts of it, therefore, it must be something else that doesn’t react with mana directly.” He raised his index finger and an orange small flame sprouted at his fingertip. “Mana serves as the fuel to our magic, while aether is what holds it inside our soul. When we run out of mana, our own soul starts to expand in order to gather mana more quickly, resulting in an overall increase in our mana reserves.”

Leona took another bite of her food and after gulping it down she turned to him again.

“Still, it doesn’t quite explain why mana shock is possible. How can I cast spells without mana?”

“By sacrificing aether. That’s why some mages outright die after using way more magic than they are capable of.” He flicked right hand and multiple flames appeared at the end of his fingers. “Mages are able to roughly tell how much they spend while casting small spells, but the moment they go all out-” The flames gathered into a bigger ball of fire that swirled high in the air as he used a wind rune below the flames in order to keep most of the heat trapped in. “-they lose control of their mana.”

“I see… is that the reason why you focus so much on accuracy when casting spells? I couldn’t help but notice how every single training session revolves around it to some degree.”

“A fortuitous result of learning, nothing more.”

“Hmmm…” It felt like she was missing part of a bigger picture but the tasty meal was keeping her mind too occupied in order to figure out what it was so she simply leaned back on her seat. “I’m looking forward to the next training session.”

“Very well. I have something very different in mind now that you are able to tell aether from mana.”

“It’s not another experiment of yours, is it?”

“You’ll find out.”

His nonchalant response left Leona somewhat unsettled as she finished her meal. Little she knew what to expect from the otherworldly hero.