Congratulations! You have improved the following attributes:
FOC: 6 [+5 RP]
INT: 5 [+5 RP]
Congratulations! You have learned the following skills:
Mana Manipulation (Lv1) [+5 RP]
Congratulations! You have leveled the following skills:
Mana Cycling (Lv4) [+6 RP]
Mana Manipulation (Lv2) [+3 RP]
Water Manipulation (Lv3) [+6 RP]
Total RP: 41
Aida reviewed her experience notifications, impressed. She had been worried that she would hit a cliff on her skills that she wouldn’t be able to surmount within the given time limit, but she seemed to level faster when she took on progressively challenging exercises. So if she could convince Ezra to teach her more training techniques, then that meant she should be able to climb out of the bottom of the class ranking by the time the school year was over.
Taking a well-needed stretch, Aida checked her mana levels. Sufficiently low; she could leave her training guilt-free for now. She glanced up at the sun, gauging how much time had passed. An hour had definitely already elapsed. The only question was, should she stay on the beach and wait for Ezra, or go look for him?
The port town was small, Aida reasoned. It wouldn’t hurt to explore a little bit; it might even help her blend in as a native to this world, if she had at least a rough sense of where things were here. Feeling pleased with her progress from this morning - and ignoring the brief flush of embarrassment passing through her body from how she accidentally soaked Ezra - Aida nearly skipped her way up the path from the beach.
The town really was small; so small the main road was packed, making it difficult for Aida to pass. Letting herself be swept along with the crowd, Aida took in all the bright colors, loud voices and laughter floating above the crowd, and various smells. She wrinkled her nose as she pushed past some sort of laborer, the gentleman raising his arm to beckon at someone else and unfortunately wafting evidence of the morning’s hard work her way.
The main street ended at the actual port, where the traffic dispersed along the massive pier that housed more boat docks than the size of Shale Port had any right to. Small fishing boats were docked closest to the main street, larger boats with substantially more equipment were docked in the middle of the pier, and at the end a couple massive double-decked ships were moored.
Curious, Aida wandered along the pier, watching everybody go about their business. Fishermen had set up shop in their fishing boats, selling their morning’s catch. Crew members of the nicer medium-sized boats strode about importantly, unloading their hauls and bellowing at anybody getting in their way. She dodged children stampeding along the planks, the older ones carrying missives and running errands, the younger ones playing. As she approached the behemoths at the end of the pier, the crowd steadily became more sophisticated. Well-dressed men and women stood in loose groups around the gangway, leisurely chatting and entirely oblivious to the flurry around them as porters buzzed about, hefting suitcases and carpetbags.
Stepping to the side of the pier to get out of the way of traffic, Aida marveled at the construct. The general shape of the ship looked like a luxury cruise, but with no visible seams in the hull - the clean lines of the ship looked just like Ezra’s golem. A few more stories were stacked on the deck, with what looked like a large brazier centered on top of the highest point of the ship. Unlike the typical ships Annie had seen in her world, these hulks were completely unpainted - the only evidence of color and artistry was at the prow. Each of these behemoth liners had some sort of sculpture molded into the front of the ship, with a dazzling array of large, lustrous gemstones embedded into the mascots. The crews seemed to take great pride in the gems: each prow seemed to be crowded by its respective crewmembers, each person reaching towards a gemstone to lovingly rub it. Intrigued (and also a bit skeptical about the fussing the gemstones deserved), Aida made her way closer.
When she got close enough to see the expressions on the crewmember’s faces as they bantered with each other, Aida also saw that they weren’t caressing the jewels as she first thought. In fact, they were merely resting their fingertips on the gems, channeling mana into the stones while they chatted. As some of the dimmer stones received mana, they glowed incrementally brighter as the magic-users charged the massive crystals.
While Aida contemplated the mana batteries, she felt air congeal around her. Gritting her teeth to break through her paralysis, she turned with a shudder to see a man with silver hair pass by her. Silence fell as everyone around Aida also stilled.
Oblivious to all the eyes on him, the newcomer leisurely strolled down the pier, his long silk coat trailing breezily in the wind, seeming to have missed the memo that air had stopped moving. There was no doubt he was related to Ezra; the silver hair and bearing was already a strong indicator, but the facial features were a dead giveaway. He had Ezra’s base features, but where Ezra’s lines evoked a sense of elegance, this man had sharper features. Looking at him, Aida felt goosebumps rise. Shark.
The man stopped behind Ezra, who must have known he was there. Ezra was bent over a clipboard, making notes while the workers in front of him subtly shifted to attention. Carefully signing at the bottom of the page with a flourish, Ezra handed the clipboard to one of the workers in front of him. His voice carried clearly through the still air. “Thank you for your hard work.”
Mumbling their thanks, the two men who had business with Ezra swiftly retreated, double-timing it up the gangplank of a shipping liner with a tiger figurehead.
“If I had known you were going to be here to oversee the deliveries, I wouldn’t have made the trip down here.” The newcomer’s voice was smooth like Ezra’s, but instead of being pleasant to listen to, it instead made Aida feel slimy.
“If Mother had bothered to pass on the news that I was going to be here, then you wouldn’t have had to make the trip down here,” Ezra responded coldly, still not bothering to face his relative. Somehow managing to avoid actually looking at him, Ezra spun on his heel and marched straight down the pier back towards the main street. The stranger kept pace easily, the chill that accompanied him doing its part to keep everyone out of their path.
“Ezra, you’re in your final year at school; you shouldn’t rely on your parents to communicate on your behalf. You really should act more like the adult you are,” he admonished. Aida’s nose wrinkled at the condescension dripping in his voice. No wonder Ezra was so tilted.
Slipping away from her spot - Aida could feel the breaths everybody released as the pair moved away - she trailed after them. Ezra’s posture was stiff, looking much more like a child pretending to be an adult than the casual class she usually associated with Ezra Riolt. The family member, on the other hand, continued to lecture Ezra languidly, refusing to let Ezra escape. She caught bits and pieces of the gossip that began brewing as she passed.
“Poor young master–”
“I never liked that Jasper Riolt–”
“Lord Riolt doesn’t care–”
“Young master’s mother does favor his brother more…”
Firming her resolve, Aida picked up her pace, catching up to the two. Ezra was finally facing his relative, jaw set firmly. Seeing their profiles in stark contrast, Aida could clearly see they were a physical match - most definitely brothers. Jasper Riolt didn’t look too much older than Ezra, maybe in his mid-twenties; but he carried himself with an air of arrogance and entitlement, expecting that everything would go his way.
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“Ezra Riolt! I’m so happy to see you here,” Aida gushed in the most nasally voice she could manage, pasting a sickeningly sweet smile on her face. She turned to Jasper, fingers flying to her lips as she gasped dramatically. “Ohmigosh, what an absolute honor! What a blessed day, I’m so pleased to make your acquaintance, Lord Jasper Riolt,” she babbled vapidly. She reached out, grabbing at his hand while she continued driveling nonstop. “I never thought I’d be so fortunate to meet the head of the Riolt household–” the instant she made firm contact with Jasper’s cold, frigid hands, she felt like her mind was overwhelmed with crushing pressure. Everything was simultaneously too loud and too quiet, as if all the sound was absorbed away. She was lightheaded, like when she would hyperventilate following a jog after a long period of no exercise, and at the same time feeling like she couldn’t breathe no matter how desperately she gasped for air.
When Aida came back to awareness, she was looking into Ezra’s alarmed face. She was crushed against his chest, his long fingers easily cupping her two wrists, and his other hand supporting her shoulder. “...huh?”
“Is she all right?” Jasper’s snide voice floated over Ezra’s shoulder. Turning her head (more like lolling, her head was so heavy) to peek over Ezra, Aida took in Jasper’s condescending stare. He even had a slight wrinkle around his haughty nose, clearly repulsed she had tried to touch him in all her drab glory.
“She’s fine,” Ezra gritted, refusing to acknowledge Jasper. Releasing her hands, he slid his now free arm underneath her legs and easily boosted her up. Still ignoring Jasper, Ezra made his way to the edge of the crowd that was watching the spectacle, and which obligingly closed around him, finally offering Ezra reprieve from his damned arrogant relative. Aida dropped her head against Ezra’s chest, grumbling.
“What was that?”
Aida tried again. “I wasn’t expecting that to happen,” she mumbled. “Was that all his mana, or was it something else?”
Ezra finally stopped on the side of the road, thanking a young couple as they vacated a bench for him to deposit her on. He crouched in front of her, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her. “Hold on…are you telling me that was all an act?”
“Ow,” Aida complained, shrugging his hands off and pressing the heels of her palms into her temples. “Of course that was all an act. You think I’d want to actually become friends with such a pretentious ass?”
Ezra was at a loss for words. He was looking at her as if he’d never seen her before, an expression of pure wonder. He looked so young, like a child. She wanted to hug him and protect him from the ugly truths of the world. She furrowed her brow, pushing that protective feeling away. “...Hello? Are you okay?”
Immediately, Ezra’s typical aloofness smoothed over his face. “I’m fine…but seriously, what were you thinking?”
“Helping you get away from your brother,” Aida retorted. “He clearly wasn’t going to let you go any time soon, and I already fit the stereotype of the kind of scum he hates to associate with.” She gestured to her shabby attire and damp sneakers. “Although…sorry for bringing his opinion of you even lower. I’m sure I just reinforced his perception of your incompetence even more,” she said apologetically.
Ezra stared at her, shocked, before letting out a peal of laughter. Genuine laughter. His eyes were squeezed into slender crescents, and his lips curved up with his cheeks, putting his perfect teeth on display. He wiped his eyes before roughly mussing her hair. “You are unbelievable.”
“Hey, it’s hard enough trying to look presentable next to you without you messing with me,” Aida complained, smoothing her hair back. “Anyway, what happened with your brother? I felt like…” she trailed off, gesturing to communicate the contradicting sensations.
Ezra pressed his lips together. “That was the first time you touched someone so powerful who refused to contain his mana, so you got utterly overwhelmed. It’s common courtesy to contain your mana so that you don’t adversely affect others. Jasper likes to inflate his mana, to pretend like he’s more impressive than he really is,” he said in disgust. He sank onto the bench next to her. “If you meet a Master-level practitioner, you likely wouldn’t be able to feel their mana. They’re so efficient they prevent any sort of mana leakage. It’s very easy to underestimate a true Master if you don’t know who they are.”
Aida nodded thoughtfully, comparing the lower levels of energy she felt in Shale Port to the significantly less populated Maglica Academy, despite the inverse population sizes. She hadn’t really noticed before, since she attributed the feeling of emptiness to just being in an unfamiliar locale. But sure enough, as she started paying more attention to the people thronging the street, she could detect small waves of energy as certain people passed. A group of young men wearing crew uniforms from one of the ships she was admiring earlier passed by, and brought with them a noticeable wave of energy.
Aida tried to verbalize her thoughts. “So, you’re saying you can detect who has the ability to channel mana, and judge their ability accordingly…up to a certain point, when they can hide their mana and pretend like they’re just a normal civilian who can’t manipulate mana.”
Ezra followed Aida’s gaze. “Correct. Those apprentices in the Traveling Peace crew are relatively inexperienced, so you can detect the ripples of their mana more easily. Now…” Ezra drew Aida’s attention to a pair of older, more rugged crew members trailing after a woman dressed in a crisp white captain’s uniform. Other than looking more sophisticated than the apprentices, the trio seemed completely unremarkable. “...look at the Fortuitous Haul’s captain and her officers.”
Aida concentrated, before shaking her head as they ambled out of view. “Are they Masters? I couldn’t sense anything.”
Ezra offered a small smile. “No, they’re not Masters. I could detect a very small aura around them. You may just need more practice fine tuning your mana control.”
Aida clapped her hands together, remembering the whole reason she went looking for Ezra in the first place. “Speaking of mana control, I have something to show you!” Grabbing his sleeve, she pulled him through the crowd back down to the pebble beach.
Pulling her wand out, Aida quickly scooped a perfectly-formed ball of water out of the ocean, sending it swirling through the air like a bubble traveling through a spiral straw. She then threw the ball at Ezra, causing the water to SPLAT right in front of where his face would have been, had he not ducked. Aida laughed as she gathered the droplets back together, letting it hover in place.
“That’s incredible,” Ezra said, surprised. “Your control has improved so much.” He inspected the ball.
“I managed to unlock another mini breakthrough while you were gone,” Aida said happily, making the ball expand in a slow-motion rendition of the splat she psyched Ezra out with. Following up on her earlier realization that she shouldn’t try so hard to keep all the pieces in her head when she had no idea what she was doing in the first place – trying to keep track of all the microactions she was supposed to be doing “correctly” instead of just focusing on achieving the goal regardless of how it happened was simultaneously a progress blocker and a great source of frustration – Aida made another crucial (albeit obvious, in retrospect) realization: her mana was part of her. She had been treating it as if it was something that she had to make an effort to use, like using every other body part except for hands to intercept a soccer ball coming her way; not as if it was directly part of her, like her eyes; she didn’t have to actively direct herself to look at something, she just looked.
Sighing, Aida released the ball of water and rubbed her eyes. “Mana manipulation has gotten a lot easier, but I’m definitely still limited to using water to focus. I tried manifesting mana outside of my body, but I end up losing it.” She looked up when she was only greeted with silence. “What?” Ezra was looking at her strangely.
“...Do you realize that almost none of the graduates of Maglica Academy are able to do the Mana Blast Cycling exercise?”
“But you said that was an intermediate-level exercise!” Aida spluttered.
“I consider it intermediate,” Ezra corrected. “Most people don’t bother with it, because it’s too advanced for the masses to find beneficial.”
Aida gaped at him, willing him to take his words back. When he didn’t, she groaned, sinking into a crouch. She just spent precious time working on a skill that most mana-users didn’t bother with. She wasted time and effort working on an advanced skill when she would be better off working on remedial skills to bring her up to middle of the pack. Trying to find a silver lining to her misprioritization, she looked up at Ezra. “If you were me, and you only had one year to bring your skills up to something employable, how would you build off of this mistake?”
“Mistake?” Ezra repeated. “Becoming better at mana manipulation isn’t a mistake.”
Aida waved her hand impatiently. “Yes, of course it’s not a mistake in the grand scheme of things, but when your time is limited, wasting time on a moonshot goal is a mistake because you’d be better off using that time making sure your foundation is solid. So, what would you do?”
“Fortunately, I wouldn’t have made the mistake of asking to learn a technique without understanding the ramifications of what I’m asking,” Ezra said coldly.
“Wait, that’s not what I meant,” Aida said, taken aback by his suddenly hostile demeanor.
“I have some other things to take care of. You can take the community transport back. The golem leaves every hour.” Ezra tossed a gold coin at Aida before striding away, rapidly removing the silver egg from his duffle.
Looking down at the gleaming coin in her hands, Aida wondered how she was going to repair the rapport she thought she had built with Ezra.