***

Guild Instructor Millarna collapsed on her back on the grassy lawn, letting out an annoyed bleat.

"AAARRRGGGHHH!!!" the goat-like Mage sounded off her frustration "IT'S NOT WORKING!!!"

She tried enacting the techniques that Ingrid performed but it was futile. The concept of using one's Mana to siphon the ambient Ether and make it her own only ended up with the arcane energy flooding in to consume her wholesale until Ingrid (who was attentively standing nearby) jumped in and flowed her power into her, "balancing out the vacuum" as the Human said.

Ingrid demonstrated the spell she used during the test, like before she lowered herself to a stable stance, planting her feet firmly to the ground and brought her hands to the side, she channeled a considerable amount of Mana into both hands then funneled them into each other, creating a ball of Mana between them.

"This is how you guys usually do it." Ingrid said after launching the sphere. She repeated the motion again, this time deftly removing the "shell" one puts around their Mana to prevent the ambient Ether from rushing in and flooding their system.

Then, Ingrid started to contract the ball, retracting the Mana exposed to Ether onto herself. But instead of the Ether flooding into her own system, it stayed only at the ball she created between her hands. More and more Ether rushed in, compressing itself as it did so yet still growing as more rushed into balance out the pressure.

Then, Ingrid thrust out her hands as usual, and with a tiny push of her own energy, the wave of volatile Ether launched itself.

Millarna, who had been observing Ingrid with magic-infused eyes, saw that in the end, while Ingrid mustered a good amount of energy, she recouped almost all of it.

It had to be something due to her unique Human meta-physiology, Millarna thought to herself. Ingrid insisted it's a technique and so was asked if she saw any other non-human species perform this.

Ingrid shrugged her shoulders.

"When I was a Magical Girl, we battled only creatures that had large stores of Mana, however, the ones who taught us how to use this technique was people like Cecil over there." she flicked a thumb at Cecil and Arek, who were sitting on a bench some distance away, conversing with each other.

Still sitting on her haunches, Millarna stared at the grass contemplatively, occasionally glancing at Ingrid's feet which still hovered an inch from the ground, bending the grass beneath. Unlike most applications of hovering, Ingrid was not bobbing up and down but was as some people had said "wearing invisible boots''

Looking up at the Human, she said after a while "...can Cecil do what you can do?"

Ingrid shook her head "Cecil said it's beyond him...but I simply assumed that it was because he's not really a combatant. At least when it comes to the Using-Your-Powers department. As my familiar, Cecil lends me his Mana in order to create my Raiment, it's basically an enchanted dress formed from pure Magic, it serves as protection and enhancement both physically and magically..." she paused.

"Back in my world, I'm not this strong. I'm just like other... ordinary people." Ingrid said a little slowly as she wasn't sure what that meant here in the world of Teragalia. "However, when our enemy, Melrondia, sends her minions at us, that's the time Cecil comes over and helps me create my Raiment so I could fight. My old Raiment-wearing self is as strong as I am now."

Ingrid sighed a bit in contemplation. In Millarna's eyes she looked like was high above on a tallest tower, seeing from a high perspective nobody else could see.

"...and then one day, I died. I was fighting Melrondia herself, she killed me and this happened." She looked down at the fluffy goat-like Instructor and noticed some curious mages had also joined in.

Millarna's horizontally pupiled eyes blinked slowly. "What happened to your Raiment?"

"It got destroyed when Melrondia killed me. I timed my transformation so that when Melrondia attacked me it would create a feedback, hoping it would kill her too... okay, let me rephrase that... when Melrondia struck the killing blow, one second I felt something break inside my soul."

"The next thing, I saw and felt that I was in some bright void. I could feel Melrondia's presence through a dark rift, in the heat of the moment I rushed out and pulled her in, pounded her several times I might add." Ingrid smiled a bit, obviously relishing this part of the story.

"And that was the part where I suddenly found myself on Ontala beach. I've tried several times but Cecil and I can't create it anymore. However, I still have all the abilities as if I was still wearing it."

Millarna thought for a while. "You said you died... did Cecil die too?"

Ingrid looked at Cecil who was still chatting with Arek very animatedly.

"This seems to be the case. He said that he split himself at the last moment and attached that part to me. It was carrying most of his Mana I imagine, in order for me to perform my Transformation one last time. Which means he got caught in the blast itself. As for the other Cecil, he's unable to make contact with it. If he did then it would provide me with a lot of useful benefits.

"During that moment when I dragged Melrondia in, I didn't feel his presence. But again, it was the heat of the moment; all I was thinking was 'I'm still alive? Oh, then I'll cave in Melrondia's face while I still can!' I wasn't too concerned with Cecil since I figured that by splitting himself he would be alright.

What are you thinking, teach? Do you know any similar situations like mine? It could really help." Ingrid finished.

Millarna stared off to the sky, deep in thought.

"Assuming you did die and your body was destroyed, and you were in the middle of a spell where you wrap yourself around this Raiment..." She began slowly, forming her theories into a single, coherent train of thought. "There's a chance that the process still continued, and modified itself to form your new body."

"I'm not sure about that... you see the first thing I did after finding myself in a calm beautiful beach, I tried to Release the spell."

Millarna let out an agitated bleat. "That's dangerous!!!"

Ingrid laughed.. scratching her head, apparently a human gesture to show regret.

"Sorry!" Ingrid said shamefacedly "...it was a force of habit! Normally, wearing my Raiment consumes Mana so once I'm done fighting I end the spell... everybody does that."

***

On the other end of the courtyard, Cecil and Arek watched what they expected to be Ingrid showboating by spamming fireballs to quickly denigrate to some talking and discussion.

"Booooo!" Cecil called, but he did not bother to raise his voice loud enough for Ingrid to hear.

"Get to part where you Danmaku spam the courtyard, Ingrid!" Arek said with the same volume, referring to the bosses in Bullet Hell Shooter Games where said bosses could unleash a dense cloud of shots.

***

Meanwhile, Kvaris and Kinu were sparring nearby, the conversation of the Spectral slime and Sea-folk with their obscure Fae gibberish lost to them. They seemed to be disappointed, expecting Ingrid to do something outrageous like she did during her Magic Exams, but they knew that Ingrid was here to show how her magic worked.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Nonetheless, their disapproval was self-contradicted as they occasionally touched a hand to their temples briefly and solemnly intoning "That's Humanity's..." but much of their indecipherable Fae talk was obscured by the sounds of their own training, particularly by the loud clashes of wooden swords against each other.

As Kinu held his ground from Kvaris's enthused assault; the latter noticing he was getting distracted from trying to understand what the two Fey-land men were talking about, he picked up bits and pieces of what they were trying to say.

Something about a pantheon of deities called the "Mhods" drifted through the courtyard.

"...yeah! But then again, even without the Mhods, it still can get absurd. I mean I got my guy who looked like a biblically-accurate seraph of disembodied horse heads, and then THAT sad cutscene was playing... IMMERSION PLUS ONE HUNDRED!" Cecil related, which provoked laughter from Arek.

The Kobold brothers paused to see Ingrid flare her Aura while she explained the intricacies of... well she was a little too far to pick up anything. Millarna had put her glowing hands on Ingrid's arms and then quickly recoiled and exclaimed in surprise. Ingrid laughed and her explanation caused Millarna try again,

"She's trying to get Millarna to do that Ether Voodoo again" Kvaris observed.

"That's ridiculous, only a Greater Fairy could do that weird magic." Kinu said. Millarna was feeling at different points that Ingrid was saying but Felmoon-kin Instructor's expression only got more puzzled.

"Ingrid I think mentioned something like you can force your mana to go on your limbs?" Kinu said, trying to remember.

Kvaris laughed out loud at the absurd comment "If I wanna burn my limbs to a crisp, yeah!"

The dialogue of the two Fey-landers at the bench drifted through the air again as Ingrid tried to coach Millarna, it sounded like they were reciting scripture about an all-seeing One and a "tie being crooked." how can a knot be crooked?

Arek mentioned how easily Ingrid could save Millarna if she suddenly had a severe case of Mana Burn... something about Ingrid possessing a golden experience in such matters. Upon mentioning this, Cecil began to sing some kind of sacred hymn which Arek eagerly joined in. It appears to be something straight out a passage of scripture; of dauntless sacrifice and willingness to step in and answer the call.

"What must I say / what must I do... / to show much...'' The duo were putting their whole heart into the song. They never figured the two of them to be the religious type, but then again, they didn't know about their rather impressive singing voices.

***

Meanwhile, Millarna as per Ingrid's suggestions put a mana-laced hand on shoulders so she could detect the direction of the flow as it circulated through her. Ingrid wasn't kidding, the Ether was flowing into her arms. Pure, Wild, Raw, Ether somehow was being circulated into her arm's Mana. To further demonstrate, Ingrid then pointed towards the training dummy and let out a steady beam of energy. Sparks flew as the training dummy's shield tried to absorb the damage.

"This is how I normally would apply a beam, of course, I'm only doing this as a demonstration since it should be bigger..." Ingrid turned her head to the side so she could address Millarna and in doing so, noticed that Cecil took on the crude shape of a boat complete with a sail and began to rock to and fro.

"That's such an efficient way to maintain a beam-type attack!" Millarna exclaimed. "Wait, try it again!" and she tried to use her Trace on Ingrid's diaphragm which the latter mentioned as an optimal place to circulate her energy.

"Sure." Ingrid repeated the motion and true enough, she wasn't drawing any energy from her reserves at all. The Human's technique towards the manipulation of one's internal energies was simply out of this world, she thought.

Millarna stepped back and tried to imitate what Ingrid was doing. Reflexively Ingrid put a hand on her shoulder, both to help correct the form of her flow of Mana and to stabilize her in case she got Mana Burned.

"You're really gonna do it?" Ingrid asked, Millarna nodded and tried to assimilate what she had just seen.

Meanwhile Arek sat back on the bench, one arm lazily draped on the backrest while the other was held at his chest, Cecil hovered beside him, looking up with some kind of expression of mock awe and wonder.

The distraction got Millarna Mana burned and the next few seconds the two were trying to put out the spectral flames. Millarna on her shoulder and Ingrid on her hand. It was nothing serious and Millarna was more enthused that she WAS able to pull in Ether for a bit.

"You alright, teach?" Ingrid asked, checking if she had hurt herself.

Meanwhile Arek and Cecil were goofing off again. Arek was standing up, one arm extended straight forward and touching the "window" that Cecil was on, making it look like he was leaning onto the otherwise intangible rectangle. The two were facing each other though they both kept a sideways look at Ingrid who rolled her eyes.

"What are those two doing?" Millarna said when she noticed the antics of the two.

"I wouldn't know." Ingrid lied.

"Alright, maybe none of the fancy stuff, something more grounded. About the aura on your feet..." Millarna tried to poke her finger between the gap of her foot and the ground but it was solid. "It really feels like a barrier, but you're not expending anything? Wait..." she narrowed her eyes again for a visual Trace and saw that... "You're pulling Ether directly from the ground? And you've been using that for your feet?

"I swear, I think you're a Tree-kin or something, like a Dryad!" She looked up quizzically. "But I suppose that is the case since you said you're one of the Fae...though I've never heard of a subspecies of Fae called a 'Human' before, so I wouldn't know."

Arek was doing a silly dance in the background, one claw using a test staff as a dancing prop while Cecil shaped himself into a couple of orbiting spheres hovering above Arek's other hand. He and Cecil were singing louder than usual.

"What are they doing?" Millarna turned her head to the Sea-folk and Slime singing and dancing about making Magic dance.

"Nothing, Arek's just doing the Magic Dance."

Millarna let out a dismissive bleat. "Arek has no aptitude for Magic, Ingrid." she noted "Anyway, what happens if you use an enhanced jump, does it cost you anything?"

"Nope."

As Ingrid demonstrated her Ether-propelled hops, Arek and Cecil have settled back to the bench.

***

"How ironic, the leader of The Whales using filthy pleb space bar." Cecil said in disappointment. A sentiment that caused Kinu nearby to furrow his eyebrows; he couldn't grasp what he's trying to imply and why he sounded disapproving but Ingrid was launching herself off the crowd higher than anyone could,

"You dissu-guress us-a Wee-rus! Committo sudoku now!" Arek said in a strange accent, holding up his hands and throwing back his head as if greatly appalled.

"You must-a use-a Fifty Dorar emotto! Resto ya honor!" Cecil replied in a similar accent. Arek responded by breaking into some kind of dancing, which caused the Slime to say "I got that one for free!" "You too? Nice!"

Kinu had enough and focused on his sparring session. For the last couple of minutes the two had turned from once worldly men to scripture-thumping clerics to book-snorting sages. Enough of this Fae gibberish, he thought, my brain was going to melt. Kinu's just barely avoided a strike from Kvaris and he resumed fighting with matching vigor.

***

"So ultimately, you couldn't replicate Ingrid's ability to meaningfully use Ether." The guild master yawned as Millarna delivered her report.

She sighed, her ears drooping in defeat.

"Her ability to manipulate her Mana is just outstanding, even if you discount the ability to use Ether." Millarna began, reading off of her handwritten notes. Millerna also had notes supplied by Ingrid herself, who volunteered to provide them on one peculiar request.

Ingrid was in the room with them, happily brushing the Guild Master's fur. The Guild Master found this an acceptable annoyance in exchange for valuable information. When he first met the purportedly Fae creature known as Ingrid it started making strange high-pitched sounds and pounced on him, attempting to mark itself on him like it was another Tephran like himself.

For sure it was a strange creature, exhibiting traits from various species. It was as fierce as a blooded Orc when needed, it had arcane knowledge of magic like the purported Oberon-class Fae, as athletic as a Grassrunner... but he never expected it of all things, a bipedal species to exhibit Tephrana behavior.

The damned thing was even purring as it brushed his fur, which was thoroughly unsettling and its “brushing" seemed to be reminiscent of a Tephrana maternal instinct... he felt like he was being treated like a kitten but overall it was far from unpleasant. Strangest of all it seemed to be aware of the nuances of having a paw put on them as it actually picked up one foreleg and pressed its face to it.

It even possessed a disturbingly preternatural empathy as he meowed and purred that he wondered if it was capable of reading minds, but that contradicted all reports about this creature.

Millarna paused in her report and tried to stifle a laugh, "Guildmaster Tibbles, I have to say, it really looks like you've tamed that Human."

Upon hearing that, Ingrid stiffened, quickly standing up.

"I...I must take care... of something...s-sorry" she said, her voice thick with emotion. She quickly leapt out of the room through the window, bounding away at incredible speed.

Guildmaster Tibbles meowed disapprovingly at Millarna "I hope you can apologize to it. You've offended the human by comparing it to some wild animal."

Trembling with shame, the Felmoon Mage bowed and quickly left the room.

***

Ingrid finally found herself far enough from the town.

"Pffft..." and let out a long, loud laugh until her sides hurt. Throughout the forest, various creatures scampered away in fright at the strange territorial call of an unknown predator that had entered their forest, some never to return.

"TIBBLES! HIS NAME IS TIBBLES! BWAAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAAA!!!"

***