Two pairs of feet strolled through the hall, one behind another. The rhythm kept up until the two were in front of a door. With a gesture of his hand, the leader said, “This will be your dorm. There should be suitable accommodations inside, but there are also several locks that you must register your mana signature to. Any questions?”
Two sapphire orbs peered up at green ones. “Well, I have yet to learn your name, headmaster,” she spoke softly, taking notice of the lift of the man’s pointed ears.
“Nathaniel Cresselia,” he answered once returning to his senses.
“What about my step-father? He is sure to want to talk to me in person.” She followed up his answer immediately.
When the man’s eyes shot away from her gaze, Mirai tilted her head to the side. “If I am not mistaken, he’s preparing to train you on our academy’s grounds. There should be a map in your room somewhere. Use that to find your way.”
Nodding at the response, the young girl turned back toward the door and placed her hand on the knob. Taking that as a cue, Nathaniel left and sauntered down the hall. Once the steps pittered out, Mirai turned the knob and leaned into the private dorm. Her resting expression remained unmoved.
As expected, there was only a single bed, set in the corner next to the bathroom. Meanwhile, what did leave her with a semblance of surprise was the small lounge area, complete with a couch and a coffee table. Moving toward the center, her eyes latched onto the kitchen area, though it only contained a few cabinets, a sink, a fridge, and a microwave. Although to be fair, she still seemed to be intrigued by each.
Finding her way around the room, she first strode over to the bed. Rather than check whatever comfort she had been given, she kneeled down and found her dresser built into the base of her bed. Not one to waste time, she opened each one and found a few sets of the school’s uniform along with a small brown paper package. Taking that box, she unwrapped it and opened the box that was hidden within it, only to find a bracelet.
Before she knew what was happening, the piece of jewelry floated up from its resting place and glowed a faint blue. Then, an aged, weary voice spoke.
“Mirai Senshin, if you have received this gift, then you have followed our family tradition of divine magic. That, or you are just like your mother. Semantics aside, this bracelet is a gift from our family. Remember to wear it as often as possible and take good care of it.”
With the end of the message, the bracelet descended back into the box and its single gemstone had dimmed down to a sky blue. Though bewildered by the sudden gift, Mirai had not let it show. Instead, she attached the bracelet to her wrist and put the box back in her dresser.
Glancing around the rest of her room, the young girl mumbled, “The rest of the room will have to wait until after my training.” At the mention of training, her gaze moved downward. “Mother will have to retrieve my clothes from home.” Reminding herself of that, she sauntered back to the door, only to pause.
The doorknob. While the outer one was only a brass fixture on wood, the inner one was laced with—what could only be described as—runes. Remembering what her headmaster had told her before, she gripped her hand tightly around the knob and forced her mana to flow through the object. After a few seconds, she had locked herself inside her dorm. Taking a slow blink at what she had done, she focused on the mana in the knob flowing back into her system, which turned out to be much easier than the initial flow. Pulling open the door, she closed the door and forced her mana back into the outer fixture, only to be satisfied when the door hardly budged at a push.
Content with her room, the black-haired girl swiveled on her heel and strode down the empty hall. Her next destination: the training grounds—which she had forgotten to get a map for.
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An hour later, the blue-eyed maiden was jogging around her academy’s campus. Her current goal was the largest of three stadiums, each serving as a training ground and a dueling arena.
Nevertheless, she slowed her pace once she neared the large entrance. Taking a deep breath, she passed through the tunnel of an entrance. Then she stopped.
In front of her was not the quiet, desolate training ground she had expected. Instead, she bore witness to two dozen students practicing various spells while simultaneously fighting each other. Yet when she stepped into the field, everyone turned to her and stopped. With a flicker of recognition, each person backed away toward the wall or moved into the bleachers.
“Ah! Mirai! About time you made it!”
Whipping around at the sound of a gruff voice, Mirai saw her step-father leaning forward on the railing around the field. His grey hair was let loose, as was his shirt, revealing a complicated runic circle on his chest, cut directly onto his chest.
“You made me wait a while!” He shouted, jumping over the railing. In just a few long strides he was in front of his daughter. “Sorry about the crowd,” he whispered, “since you were late, I couldn’t just shoo them away.”
“My apologies then,” she replied, her eyes locking with the brown ones gazing down on her. “Shall we start training then?”
Smiling at the suggestion, the greying man turned on his heel. “Come on, then!” He exclaimed excitedly.
Following her step-father, Mirai stopped at the center of the training ground. Without a word, he brought up his right hand and let the palm face skyward. Then, with only a slight flick of his wrist, a ball of orange and yellow energy formed above his palm, resting there with its flickering colors.
“Channel your mana,” he ordered, though his soft tone left out any ferocity. Yet, the girl still did as she was told.
Lifting her right hand, she closed her eyes. With a single thought, her mana flowing throughout her body was redirected until it flowed through her right arm. Opening her eyes, Mirai was hardly surprised when her right arm was surrounded by ethereal energy, snaking around the appendage with every color imaginable being shown off. As expected, the greying man leaned closer and inspected the energy.
Seemingly satisfied, he stood up straight. “Your mana has an unprecedented form.” He commented while others tried to peer closer at it. “For now, imagine it becoming a ball, just like mine.”
Doing as she was told, Mirai turned her eyes over to her arm. Keeping her eyes open, she imagined the energy swarming around her palm and becoming a perfect orb. Unfortunately, instead of a perfect orb, it was hazy and tendrils of energy circled it like the clouds around a miniature planet.
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“Is this acceptable?” She asked, her melodic voice remaining tranquil despite the worry her question should be laced with.
Nodding, the man turned to his left. “This is the basis for the Blast spell.” He said before flicking his wrist, causing the energy around it to disperse. “Now that you know the shape of the spell, you will learn the incantation.” Following his lead, Mirai absorbed her energy through her palm. Without anything else to explain, he held his hand straight out, aimed toward an empty expanse of the wall. “Energy within me, I command you. Blast!”
In the blink of an eye, an orange blur shot out from his outstretched palm. With a loud bang, the wall he was aiming at was nothing more than piles of concrete while the rail connected to it bent inward.
Unfazed by the spell’s effects, Mirai glanced around her. Her step-father had a similar reaction; he just looked at the debris he made. Meanwhile, others either looked at him with awe, at the wall with amazement, or at her with anticipation.
Following his lead once again, she raised her hand and looked over to another section of the wall. “Energy within me, I command you. Blast!”
Then, everyone shut their eyes as a blinding light flashed throughout the area before a bang was heard. When everyone looked at the results, the wall was completely intact. However, Mirai was on the ground, with the cuff of her right sleeve scorched, revealing her wrist.
“You alright!?” Illuctos exclaimed, rushing to his step-daughter’s side.
Grabbing her wrist, the man could see no injury, only her unblemished skin. “I am fine,” Mirai rasped out, sitting up. “My spell exploded prematurely, from what I can tell. Though it appears to not affect my body.”
“Right… It sure looks that way,” he replied with a shaky voice.
Gently removing his hand from her wrist, Mirai stood up and looked around at the worried faces. Mixed in were some smirks. With no interest in any of them, she turned toward her bewildered mentor.
“Are there other methods of spellcasting? Or should we go over where I went wrong?” She asked, her face unnerved in its resting position.
Standing up, he grabbed her right arm and held it outward. “The incantation was flawless, so either your mana or intent was off. Perhaps even your concentration, but I highly doubt you’d have a problem with that.” He mused while rolling up the ragged sleeve up to her elbow.
“Shall I try it again then?” She asked before rolling up her left sleeve to match the other one.
Once he nodded and stepped back, she aimed at the undamaged wall. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and imagined the spell impacting the wall when it explodes. She opened her eyes and stared at her target.
“Energy within me, I command you! Blast!”
In the blink of an eye, Mirai rocketed back into the wall behind her. Where she previously stood was now a cloud of dust.
Alarmed at the result, Illuctos, once again, rushed to his step-daughter’s side and peeled her off the wall. Moving to set her down, he was smacked in the chest by her right arm, causing him to drop her. Luckily, she landed on her feet without a stumble.
“I achieved the same result with different intents,” she muttered with a blank stare directed at what was supposed to be her target. The wall just stood there, sturdy as always, yet it seemed to somewhat mock her. Whipping around, she looked Illuctos in the eyes and asked, “Is there another method?”
Shaking off whatever bewildered expression he had, the man bolted right up. “Yes, you can try to draw the spell’s runic formation. That would save you from making the intent in your mind, but relies more on your own speed and how much mana you can pour into it.”
“Show me,” she ordered.
With a huff, the greying man raised his hand and drew a circle with his pointer finger, causing an orange circle to form in front of him. Glancing back at Mirai, he guessed she was either amazed or shocked.
“Only a circle?” She asked, her eyes darting around the circle.
“Yes, but remember, one finger for this spell. If you use more, it’ll be a different spell.” He explained before flicking his wrist. Reacting to that motion, the circle closed in and formed an orb before rocketing toward the debris created earlier. “Remember, this time, your mana could be the only problem—if you draw it right anyway.”
Noting that in her head, Mirai turned to her original target—the wall. Bringing up her hand, she drew a circle that flashed every imaginable color in a hazy formation, making it difficult to tell whether she drew a decent circle. Nevertheless, she flicked her wrist.
Closing in on itself, the orb began to form, yet it only kept getting bigger. Eyes widening, Mirai brought up her arms in front of her face and bent her knees. Before she knew it, the orb touched her arms and sent her flying into the wall, again.
Groaning under her breath, the young girl got back to her feet, despite the bewildered looks of the spectators. Ignoring them, she glanced at her arms. Neither was damaged, not even the bracelet on her left wrist.
“My mana overflowed the spell,” she critiqued. “Illuctos, are there any other ways I can use?”
Bringing a hand up to his chin, the man pondered. After a few minutes, his eyes widened with realization. Staying silent, he brought up his hand and made an orb, just like he did earlier. With a push, the orb was sent into his pile of debris and exploded upon contact.
“There! Forge the spell!” He exclaimed like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Realizing everyone—save for Mirai—was giving him a confused expression, he made another orb. “Just like earlier. Make an orb by channeling your mana, then you shoot it toward your target.”
Taking a step closer to her step-father, the young girl chimed into his explanation. “And it should work since my mana reacted poorly to verbal and written instructions. So, motion-based and mental instructions should be the answer?” She presumed with the same calculating expression that she had worn throughout the rest of her training.
“Precisely!” The aged man exclaimed with the most excitement that Mirai—or most people for that matter—had ever seen from him.
Looking over her hands for a moment, the blue-eyed maiden had yet to channel her mana. All of a sudden, she shook her head and strode away from her mentor.
Going off of her memory, she brought her right hand up to chest-level before focusing her mana through her arm. When it had glowed, she allowed it to seep out slowly before concentrating it into an orb. The ethereal mana was slow yet steady in its flow, even when it was forced into an orb. Yet once it was fully formed, the girl twisted her arm and pushed it, causing it to fly and impact the wall in the blink of an eye.
Letting the dust settle, everyone stalked over to the target. The dust cleared slower than any of them had the patience for. But once it was gone, all that was left was pebbles and twisted metal.
“Amazing!” Illuctos shouted from behind her, causing the girl to whip around with her fists up. Not noticing her reaction, he continued, “Absolutely stunning! I doubt anyone else could perfect that kind of spell forging without a few day’s worths of training!”
Forcing back the instinct to roll her eyes, the step-daughter added, “To be fair, this is the only method of three that had any positive results so far.”
“And hardly see any students even try to cast spells like this!” The old man retorted. “Even I have trouble casting basic spells this way! Incantations must have made me rusty with all the manual stuff!” He laughed at his insult aimed at himself, joined by a few subdued chuckles from the onlookers.
Eyeing her watchers, the young girl cleared her throat. “Illuctos, can we end training here? I have to go gather my belongings.”
Snapping back to his senses, her step-father cut his laughter short. “Course. But remember,” he leaned in to whisper, “we’ll be trying to get your casting stronger and faster to keep up with all the incantations, alright?” She nodded minutely. Straightening himself, the greying father shouted, “Now get going! Your mother will rip me a new one if I kept you!”