Two months after witnessing the spectacle of the sword dance, Rai had a weekly schedule that he’d follow. As if it was instinct by now, he imbued mana into his seals. With a flash of crackling white lightning, a journal manifested itself mid-air from his spatial storage. Rai frowned. It’s never as smooth as when Aunt Elly takes something from her spatial storage. Whenever he stored or drew anything from his storage, there was always a white flash of lightning surrounding the object.

According to his Aunt, every mage's mana was drawn to an element, or elemental deviation. For Rai, that was lightning. He liked that he was different from his Aunt. Rai supposed that she’d like that too, given how much she talked about creativity and how important it is in learning magic.

Rai opened his journal to remind himself of his schedule for the week. The week was split into seven days, Unusdies, Duodies, Trisdies, Quattordies, Quinquies, Seniodies, and Septemdies. On Unusdies and Trisdies he would have magic lessons with Elira, and on Duodies and Quattordies he would have Sword Dance lessons with Jin. Rai often spent his spare time practicing both to perfect his learnings of the week. Still, he had to complete his chores around the house and farm, spend time with his mum, and make trips to Acies every now and then to sell off the harvest. Though, sometimes he would go to Acies to spend time with his mum and Jin in Bort's Inn.

Today was Unusdies, Rai was excited. Finally, Aunt Elly was going to teach Rai how to properly mould mana.

Previously, she helped him visualise mana and get a handle on it, teaching him to simply imbue objects with it. Though, since he was young, Rai could perfectly see mana and its flow as if it were clear as day, without even needing to concentrate very much on it. Of course, Elira was somewhat envious of his ability to perfectly see the arcane. For everyone else it was always muddy and foggy, and required a great deal of concentration to see. It was one of his talents that she called Mana Acuity.

Rai was always curious. He experimented outside of lessons and learned a few small tricks, simply by willing the mana to flow and concentrate in a single area of his body. It allowed Rai to strengthen that part of his body. Sometimes he would strengthen his leg muscles to run a little bit faster for fun.

Rai sighed. He wished he could use that magic for his chores.

He left the backdoor of the house, which led into the garden that his mum had spent a few years working on. Rai's favourite flower that his mum grew was roses. He loved how they looked and smelled.

Aunt Elly was there, sat below a tree just a little distance away from all of the other bushes and flowers in the garden. She looked like she was meditating, since her eyes were closed and her legs were crossed.

Without looking at him, Elira began, “Today we’ve got a lot to get through, so focus up Rai.”

Rai nodded as he sat beside her, “Yes Aunt Elly."

“Today, we're going to learn about the internal and external manifestation of mana. Tell me what you’ve learned about mana so far.”

Rai knew what this was. It was a hidden test that his aunt liked to do so often. Rai thought about it for a second.

“Mana is the lifeblood of a mage, a resource in the world that we can build up within our bodies and use to cast spells.” Rai fiddled with his bands as he answered. It was something he’d do whenever he was anxious about something.

“You have most of it down, but you missed one of the main things I taught you just last week."

Rai tensed up. Uh oh! I forgot the desire thing...

"The first part is mostly correct, but mana is not simply used to cast spells. It can be moulded and shaped into desire. Your ability as a mage depends on how creative you can be in the application of mana, not on how much mana you have as some people might believe.”

Rai's tension slowly relaxed as it didn't seem like he'd get scolded this time. He listened attentively as Elira carried on the lecture.

“You've got a lot of mana, but you can't use most of it very well, can you?"

"No, I can't."

"Which is fine, since you'll get better at using it over time. This is because mana flows through the mana channels in your body, which develop more as you use them. People with very little mana can still use magic, if only to imbue their bodies or weapons."

She paused for a second.

"Do you know of magical gem embedding?”

Rai's expression brightened up. He thought back to when he saw strange looking gems embedded in the hilts and blades of some of the adventurers weapons in Acies.

“It’s when weapons have gems that cast spells in them! A smith makes weapons and armour with mana channels and sockets so people with little mana can still use spells with those gems!”

“I see you’ve kept up with your readings. Well done.”

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

I only asked the travellers in Acies, but I’ll take it! Rai smiled warmly back at Elira.

"Thank you!"

Elira smiled back, but only for a second before getting back to business, “Next. What do you know about divine forms?”

This was something Rai felt anxious about, since his mother had no divine form. According to his mother, his father had none either.

“A divine form is something that most people in Zenith have. Everyone's divine form is something they get from their clan. Most of the Life clan have drake or wyvern divine forms. Some of the people in our clan are lucky and get to be a big and cool dragon! There are also some people who have no divine form like... me, mum, and Jin. Some other people have divine forms that aren't normal.”

“Very good. It seems that, other than the one thing you forgot, you’ve studied over our last few lessons well.”

She shifted from her sitting position, which Rai took as the signal for the test being over. It was time to start the actual lesson.

Elira tilted her head at Rai, “I'm guessing that you don't know anything about internal or external mana manifestation?”

"I don't even know what those words mean."

"... Right..." She'd forgotten that Rai was still just a kid.

"So, internal manifestation is when mana changes its attribute while still inside you. So if you used fire to strengthen your body, you'd call that a fire augment with an internal cast of fire. You with me so far?"

"I put some mana into my legs earlier and ran faster. Is that the same thing?" He said with a curious look.

Elira nodded profusely, "Yes! That's exactly it." She let out a sigh of relief. "And external manifestation is when you create an element outside of your body. So if you created a flame in your hand, then that would be external manifestation."

Rai studiously nodded. He was understanding what Aunt Elly was saying now, "Are we going to practice that today?"

"Yep."

Rai silently fist pumped the air. This was what he was excited for.

"But first, let's talk about your lightning." She sighed.

"Your body has an affinity with lightning, so manifesting lightning through mana would be easiest for you. But today, we’re not going to touch lightning. We're going to look at all of the main elements instead.”

Rai frowned. He loved using lightning.

Elira shook her head, “You already know about lightning, so there's no point in going over it right now when you don't know anything else. Besides, even though it’s the most destructive and fastest element, that doesn’t mean it’s the best to use in all situations. Watch.”

Rai watched.

Elira conjured a miniature whirlwind in her right palm.

“The wind element is useful when you need to throw an opponent off guard, or when you need to float, or raise objects.”

The whirlwind shifted to a ball of water.

“Water can be used to heal, or suspend objects in space.”

The ball of water popped, splashing over Elira’s hand.

A flame flickered.

The splashed water slowly heated up, and caused steam to drift into the air.

“Fire can be used as a source of heat, of life. But it can easily destroy everything in its path.”

In her left hand she conjured a chunk of earthen rock.

“However, there are some obstacles that even fire cannot break through.”

The flickering flame in her right palm flew towards the rock. It collided with it, and dissipated into nothingness upon contact. All that was left was a scorched mark on the rock.

Rai watched in full concentration. He seemed entranced by the possibilities afforded to him if he could master the elements.

Elira smiled at him, “Your lightning is rare. Very rare. I’ve personally never seen it before, and I’ve travelled all across Zenith. But it isn't the only affinity that's useful. You’re not the only person with a rare affinity, so don’t underestimate your colleagues or other mages you come across.”

Rai was happy that lightning was rare, but he was a little sad that it couldn't do everything like his aunt was saying.

Elira huffed as she placed her hands on her hip, “For the rest of the lesson, you’re going to learn to externally manifest fire and water. Two elements that are polar opposites to each other.”

He nodded.

She went back into teacher mode, “To manifest fire as I’ve just done, you have to picture your internal mana coalescing into your palm and morphing to fit your desire.” She knew Rai would have no problem with this, given his abnormal mana acuity. “Imagine the mana taking on the characteristics of fire, burning with incredible heat. Uncontrolled and wild. Alive. Even with your mana mostly sealed, you should be able to do this. Remember, it’s your mind that controls your ability, not the amount of mana you have access to.”

After a few minutes of contemplation, Rai held out his right arm with his palm faced upwards.

Flicker.

With the sound of a match, a flame burst into being in his hand.

It was weak.

The flame wildly danced with the soft winds of the farm. Its orange flame revealed hints of red in its core, beneath the flailing fires that grew upward. Even though it was weak, the flame was a flame nonetheless.

By this point, Elira was used to Rai's talent. She gave him a thumbs up, “It's not the best flame, but you've done it! Now, try to manifest water.” Her emerald eyes looked through him in a way that made Rai feel like she was challenging him.

Rai noticed something different about how Aunt Elly gave him the next task. She gave me no instructions like last time... Rai took a mental note whenever Elira stepped up the difficulty, it was like she wanted him to think properly about whatever he was doing.

He racked his brain to think about how to manifest water now.

The fire in his hand died down, with only its embers remaining.

Aunt Elly said that water and fire were polar opposites. So, if fire was uncontrolled and wild, then water... should be soft and calm. It’s free flowing. Rai pictured the mana with those characteristics flowing through his mana channels. It would gather into a ball in his palm.

Nothing happened.

Making mana flow was instinctive to him, but attaching properties to the mana was new for him, and took some time to adjust to.

After about ten minutes, which was marginally longer than it took for him to manifest the flame, Rai succeeded. A crude ball of water, if one could even call it a ball, floated just above his palm.

Elira smiled warmly at Rai, “That's a lot faster than I learned how to do it! Good job, take a break, and then practice some more. I have business to attend to so this lesson will be a little short. I’m sorry but I won’t be able to come again this week, so use the next lesson time for yourself. Give your mum my love when they're back from Acies!” She got up and stretched, then got ready to leave.

While he wanted to continue with Aunt Elly’s guidance, Rai knew her position. His aunt even being here was putting her position in danger. She was the Sage of the Life clan. Her duty to the clan was also important. So, Rai thanked her with a hug. Elira returned the embrace and patted Rai on the head. She left the farm soon after.

Rai stretched, then went back inside to rest after his lesson.

Though, there was something that he was forgetting.