On a fine morning, the first place Azi and Shizu arrived was the village barracks. Located a substantial distance away from Kajima’s house, the trek was long, longer than expected, especially with the cold winter snow collecting at their feet. Nevertheless, as tiresome as it was, Azi pushed on with the little stamina he had.
Last night's debacle had left an effect on him. The recent sparring and magic body enhancement he used while drunk were causing cramps and a throbbing soreness in his muscles. Shizu noted how weak and unfit he was, likening him to a second rate soldier, or a thin stick more like it. He was definitely not a soldier in his past like he said before.
“Need a rest?” Shizu asked. “You don’t look so good.”
Azi shook his head. He somewhat took offense as he did a little derisive gasp. “Nah, I’m fine. I can handle this.. I can.. I really can.. Plus, we're already here. So let’s get to it.” He trudged up the snow laden path to the gated entrance.
Shizu thought to get him to sit down with how bad he was panting. But before she could make the suggestion, he walked past her with an oddly renewed energy. She could tell what was driving him.
Excitement. She thought, rolling her eyes. He’s really into this thaumaturgy stuff. Did Kajima teach him about it already? Unknowingly, she was partially right in her assumptions.
According to Azi’s talk with Kajima, if Azi wanted to learn about thaumaturgy then he’d need to get in contact with a practitioner. Which was why Kajima had told him that the nearest thaumaturges were currently stationed at the village's barracks due to the increasing monster attacks and the number of wounded.
While apothecaries were the healers of the feudal society of Kujyuri and the Empire at large, the Thaumaturges were the specialists when it came to the manipulation of a so-called magical energy. They could use it to aid in a person’s natural healing, or be utilized to unleash elemental might upon their foes.
That.. was what the books told him, and he took it with a grain of salt. Not everything he read could be credible, he needed real practical evidence, which was why he was here, and because magic was a concept he wholly wished to see for himself.
Unfortunately, they wouldn’t be here for long since they had a list of things to do, but it was Azi’s priority to meet a practitioner to get started. He walked at a quick pace, posing a question as he began looking through the faces around the barracks. With a small tug on Shizu’s hand to get her attention, he asked.
"Shizu? Do you know of a thaumaturge by the name of Touma? Kajima said that he could help me with my idea on how to fix your katana."
"Yeah, I think so. He should be somewhere around here, give me a sec.”
Shizu began to scan between the meandering groups of off duty soldiers amongst the main courtyard. The village barracks consisted of numerous 2 story wooden buildings that had a few adjacent outdoor clearings to the main courtyard for the soldiers to use for training or for free time. Some were dutiful and were sparring, while others were gambling and playing cards with their wages on the line.
Focusing her attention on one of the men sitting at a table, who was playing what looked like a board and dice game, she noticed what set him apart from the rest. He did not carry a sword, spear, or bow. Unlike the others, the man carried a staff with metal ringlets decorating its circular head. Recognizing his unique garb’s pattern, and blue colored robes the man set on his chair, Shizu tugged back on Azi’s hand. Azi’s eyes were wandering everywhere as always, it was kinda annoying, though childishly cute in Shizu’s opinion.
"Hey! Will you focus! Your guy is over there.” Shizu pulled Azi along with her. “Come with me, I’ll introduce you to him. But.. do you really think you can learn thaumaturgy that quickly?"
“Not really.” Azi shrugged. “But I do have to start somewhere, especially since you don’t want to teach me yet.”
“Point taken.” Shizu shrugged back. "Hey!” She called out to the group. “Is one of you named Touma?"
The man with the staff perked up at her call and turned to face her. He had a bit of surprise on his tired expression. Like any soldier, they woke up early and that included thaumaturges, so lack of sleep was normal.
"Yes umm.” The man stuttered, “That would be me Lady Shizu, what can I do for you?"
"Nothing much, my new apprentice is in need of your help. Would you have the time to hear him out?"
“What? Apprentice?”
The other soldiers within earshot were surprised and a mummer began stirring among them. The news that Shizu accepted an apprentice was like watching a fish grow legs, it just wasn’t going to ever happen. In the recent past, many soldiers requested to become her apprentice in private, it was the official mode of request.
The result of these requests had become part of the rumor around Shizu. From gossip, it was discerned that Shizu did not find them worthy or interesting enough to take under her wing. Some even came back with broken bones for their attempt to insistently push for the position. The results were a gruesome image that Touma and the rest of his group would have rather forgotten. By now, no one thought Shizu would ever find an apprentice, or even a man for that matter.
With a bit of trepidation in his voice, Touma righted himself before speaking with a wry smile. "C-congratulations. Please, tell me about him Lady Shizu. If I get to know him first, I should be able to help."
"Sure, but he’ll introduce himself."
Shizu motioned to the young man who was standing at her side. Touma‘s expression contorted into a look of confusion. He did not believe that the short young man holding Shizu’s hand was the said apprentice. The little boy, more like it, was a head and a half shorter than Lady Shizu. In all truth, Touma was thinking that the boy was a lost young adolescent.
Shizu shot Touma's odd look with a sharp glare, causing him to swallow a breath to keep his comments to himself. In fact, the surrounding soldiers did as well. Stepping closer in order to better talk with the youth, Touma slouched a bit to get down on the same eye level.
Like all the people Azi had met, Touma was quite tall. The thaumaturgic practitioner stood at a little under 6 feet in height which was a massive gap when compared with his own height of 5 feet.
"What can I help you with young man?" Touma asked invitingly.
Azi got the impression that Touma was of a regal sort. His garb wasn’t gaudy, but expensive. The way Touma talked was also deferential, but not submissive before Shizu. Azi also detected the hint of mockery in Touma’s tone, he was looking down on him, that was certain.
Well, it doesn’t matter.
He tried to not think about that as he said, "Hi, well, I’m Azi.. and currently I’m trying to learn a bit of thaumaturge for a project I’m working on. Also, yes, I am unfortunately Shizu's apprentice.”
“Hey!” Shizu smacked him in the back of his head for that. “What do you mean by unfortunate? It’s a privilege, you better remember that!”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean unfortunate, I meant annoying.” Retorted Azi.
At this point, the two would get into a heated exchange of bickering. Shizu was about to open her mouth to first the first shot, then noticed all the watching soldiers. She coughed and righted her posture, then patted Azi on the back to hurry him up.
“Enough horsing around.” She said carefully. “Get on with your questions already.”
Azi nodded and did so. He turned back to Touma, who was strangely flabbergasted for some reason. Although that didn’t hinder Azi as he explained his situation, from the broken katana and the somewhat forced situation of him becoming Shizu’s apprentice. Touma inwardly gave his sympathies, knowing full well of Shizu’s fickle nature. He listened on as Azi moved to another topic.
“I learned from Shizu that I may have an aptitude for thaumaturgy.” Azi explained. “So could you give me an aptitude test? I would also like to discuss the topic of rune crafting and engraving if we have time? I’ve read some stories on it and wanted to conduct some studies for my project."
“Uh.. Um.. sure.. I suppose so.. That is.. If Lady Shizu doesn’t mind.”
Touma glanced over to her and got a scowling nod as his answer. The friendly yet abrasive interaction Lady Shizu was having with Azi was surprising, yet refreshing. Touma hid his reaction from showing as he got up to his feet to walk back to his staff.
"Alright, let's start then. Here, hold this."
Picking up his staff, Touma extended the circular head part of it to Azi. "You will first need to put your hand on the crystal that is located here.” Pointing a finger to a white stone on the staff’s head, Touma guided Azi through the steps. “Try to focus your intent on it and I’ll handle the rest."
"Seems simple enough.” Azi said. He kept an eye out for what was about to happen.
I don’t really know what to expect but I hope I get a good reading from this.
He reached his hand out and let his palm rest on the crystal of Touma's staff. In the next moments, Touma hummed and whispered what sounded like a chant. Suddenly the blue glow of Azi's veins started to spread down his arm and began creeping into the crystal.
The odd sight of the glowing blue lines on Azi's arms wasn’t a first for Touma. He identified it as reinforcement magic, but its glow was much brighter than the normal instances he had seen. Before he could ask to satisfy his piquing interest, he noticed that the crystal on his staff began to glow blue, then red, and then settled on a transparent colorlessness.
This drew much of Touma's attention and he decided to save his earlier questions for a later date. He focused on interpreting the aptitude test, deducing that Azi had a triple aptitude of water, fire, and colorless types of magic, a rare sight to see. The majority of the population of Yamato did not have aptitudes, so thaumaturgy was a scarce talent.
On average, 1 in 1000 people had a magic aptitude, while 1 in 10,000 people had two magic aptitudes. Those with three or more were 1 in a million and were considered potential geniuses in the field of thaumaturgy.
Azi was simply amazing off the bat, a rare find indeed, though Touma tempered his optimism. He had seen talented individuals give up Thaumaturgy because of how intensive the learning and training were, not to mention how expensive it was to become one if you were not in the army.
"Hmm, a good start.” Touma said, “You seem to have an aptitude for water, fire, and colorless type magic. Water type magic is usually used for healing, fire magic is used for offense, and colorless magic has some utility if you are able to master it."
"Master it?” How does one master an aptitude?" Azi asked. “Is it like strength training or exercising?”
"Almost.” Touma answered, going in depth. Shizu helplessly rolled her eyes and made a face as if saying, here we go again. She understood why Kajima had referred Touma to Azi, they were both academics and could talk each other’s ear off.
”Mastering your aptitudes requires a lot of time and repetition, like exercise.” Touma readily explained, “There is a method of cultivation or meditation to further one's abilities. This latter option is not recommended for people with multiple aptitudes due to how this method is time consuming and only benefits one aptitude at a time.”
Azi, with a glimmer of excitement in his eyes, took out his notebook and began scribbling in it, obviously already enraptured by Touma’s lecture.
“The art of Meditation for training was an old practice. The most modern way to master them is to repeatedly convert your magical energies into the corresponding aptitude, or element, and then convert them into magical energies.”
Touma flexed his fingers to demonstrate and get his point across, lights of different colors collected appeared at the tips of his nails.
“Do this every day and your control of your aptitudes will improve.” He said, “Your mastery will increase as well, making it easier to use spells and for when you want to experiment on how your magical energies can be applied. Let me give you an example."
Prompted by Touma, Azi let go of Touma’s staff and stood back at his instruction. Azi watched as he moved to an open area. Another few silent seconds passed. Touma used it to focus his mind and gather his internal magical energy into the conduit that was his staff.
A solid red glow emitted from the palms of his hands and it traveled up the staff which then produced a small ball of flame at its circular head. The fist size flame burned bright, then dimmed as red motes of light were blown from the flame like cinder dispersed into the air.
Once the flame was gone, the last embers of it satisfyingly flying away in the breeze, Touma shot a proud smile at Azi.
"This is one way to practice for those with a fire aptitude.” He said, “To summarize what I did, I imagined a flame, created it through my own intent, and then let it dissipate slowly."
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
“Ah.. I see.” Azi said. “So that’s how you do it.” His eyes were fixated in amazement from the fantastical performance.
It was only a single flame yet, the heat and its apparent ability to defy the laws of physics that he knew from his few memories, had reframed all that he had known.
Wanting to try it himself, he discerned what little tips Touma had said. Azi held out his hand in front of him with his palm up, as if cupping the air. He began trying to emulate the same phenomenon.
Ok, I have to imagine, imagine, imagine. He repeated that word in his head.
Touma smiled wryly at his attempt and thought that the youth was too eager. There was no way that Azi could use magic without a staff as it took a year of practice to do such a feat. It was an easy endeavor for Touma since he was a graduate from the thaumaturgic department of the Empire’s academy.
"It's not easy to start using magical energies, Azi.” Touma said. “You have.. To.. train? For.. a.. Year?" His words trailed off as his expression changed to sudden shock.
The veins in Azi’s outstretched hand began to glow. Like a branching tree, the blue glowing lines spread down his arms, then its color turned into a crimson red.
Azi had to grimace back a sudden twinge of discomfort spread across his palms. The feeling in his arm was unfamiliar and disturbingly hot. Pushing through, he tried to imagine a small flame for the next few minutes. He stared intently at his palm, trying to frame the light of the flame in his head into real life. With a grunt of effort, a flame the size of a matchstick sputtered pathetically in the palm of his hand.
“Ah man..”
Azi sighed in disappointment, he was expecting to produce a flame as large as Touma's. Touma on the contrary was nonetheless impressed. Such rapid development and a control over one's own magic energy was a sight to see for someone so young.
"Incredible!” Touma exclaimed, “Azi, I want you to now try to think of the flame going out, or dispersing. If you can do that, then you’ll get what I meant earlier."
“Uh.. yeah.. I’ll try.. Hold on.” Azi took a breath. The step before had taken a lot out of him mentally. It was like being out of breath spiritually, you just couldn’t think or focus.
At the side, Shizu watched in rapt attention along with the soldiers, Azi and Touma were drawing a crowd, some soldiers were beginning to put best in if Azi would fail.
Per Touma’s advice, Azi then thought of the flame being extinguished by water. But nothing happened. He tried again and again and again. Yet every imagined thought he had to extinguish the flame failed to put it out. The mounting bets for Azi to fail were growing, and Shizu was thinking of putting some cash on the line as well.
Azi, trying to think of a solution, searched for a possible logical way to interpret Touma’s advice. An idea came about as he recalled a new memory. Apparently, one of the fairy tales he could recall had said that all creatures possessed magic energy. So if Azi wanted to disperse it, then how about putting it back to where it once was? It was a long shot, though it might have its practical application with thaumaturgy.
Azi closed his eyes and attempted to picture the flame becoming one with his arm. He was going to have the flame disperse its magical energies back into himself, like a close network of energy. He thought that if the flame was made from his energy he could just recycle it back into himself. A few minutes passed and the match sized flame in his palm began to look as if it was slowly dissipating from everyone else's perspective.
“Huh? What the?” Touma, on the other hand, sensed a shift of energies in the air.
The flame in Azi’s hand was going out, yet its dissipation was different from his own as it did not escape into the air. The matchstick sized flame snaked around Azi’s arm and shrank in size, thinning like a stretched piece of rope. As the last red motes of the flame disappeared into Azi’s arm, a second passed with complete dead silence. Everyone held their breath in anticipation of what would happen next.
*Fwoosh*
Azi’s right forearm suddenly burst into flames. The silence broke as the soldiers began to panic. Some even began calling out for water but didn’t dump it on the boy. The boy wasn’t in any pain.
Azi, who had closed his eyes to help him focus, opened them at their clamor. He was startled by the attention he was getting. Seeing that everyone was drawn to his arm he looked to his outstretched hand and realized how he had made a torch of himself.
A look of horror twisted his expression and Azi's first thought was to panic. The sight of your own arm on fire would throw anyone into a frenzy. He waved his hand in the air, trying to throw the flame off of him, it was stuck like glue and it oddly even felt.. Comfortably warm.
"Ummm, what do I do?" Azi asked fearfully to Touma, who was also at a loss.
Breaking out of his own surprise, Touma reviewed what he knew. So.. If I remember correctly, this is Element imbuement. I thought that was only done with weapons, guess people can as well, but that was theoretical. "Are you in any pain?" He asked.
"No.” Azi rubbed his flaming fingers together, his right forearm was entirely engulfed in flames and he could tell he still had his sensation of touch. “It just feels warm, but how do I get rid of this?"
"No clue. Touma said, “This is the first time I'm seeing this kind of phenomenon. I learned about it in books, but this kind of magic was never used due to how impractical the technique was. Usually the red motes would disappear, though it seems like you’ve absorbed the magical energies into your body, and successfully at that. This is unprecedented.”
“That doesn’t really help.” Azi replied wearily. He was getting the gist that Touma had a fascination in his practices as a thaumaturge, he could understand why as a fellow academic, though he really hoped Touma had a solution to this. “Can’t you think of anything Touma?” Azi asked, “You’re supposed to be the pro here.”
“I don’t know what else to say.” Shrugged Touma. “I have no idea on how to solve this as this is a first for me as well."
Azi sighed. Just how could he fix the current situation? He couldn’t walk around the village with his right arm bathed in fire, that would draw too much attention, not to mention how uncomfortable it would be to sleep with it. It would probably destroy his bed, or even burn down Kajima’s house.
Hmmm. Pondering, he felt through the tensions in his arm. It feels like it's tensed up, maybe if I try, “that”, I can get it to relax?
"Do you have a practice target or something I can punch?” Azi asked, “I think it will disperse if I exert it out of my body."
"Yeah, I can make one for you. Still, that doesn’t seem like it will work."
“I gotta try at least, I’ll learn nothing if I don’t experiment with this. Also, I can’t go to sleep if I’m partially on fire.”
Shizu let out a chuckle at his expense. “You sure got yourself into a lot of trouble. I told you you should've been more careful.”
“Oh don’t you start.” Azi snorted at her, as he moved over to where Touma was getting set up.
Touma grasped his staff in what looked like a prayer, then he tapped it on the ground three times. Each tap emitted a green glow and in response a small lump of earth of about 1 meter in height, width, and thickness, rose up in front of Azi.
"Alright, everyone.” Touma waved to the other soldiers. “Get back just to be safe. We can’t be too careful."
At his warning the soldiers stepped away, keeping a good distance as they milled about with their chatter and card games.
When everyone was safe enough away, Azi got into a fighting stance. He surprised himself by how natural his posture was, it was as if it was on instinct. With his left foot out front and right foot behind though slightly to his right side, he then tensed his hands into fists, with his left outstretched in front of him and the other at his waist.
This posture again seemed familiar. The flame on his right arm began to heat up, surprisingly not burning his clothes. It did emit a small amount of heat, so maybe he could sleep with it, but the light it gave off would keep him up.
“Ok.” Azi said, “I’m going to try and punch it out of my system.”
“Again, that doesn’t sound like it will work.” Touma added, “We could try dousing it in water?”
“We could, but..” Azi adjusted his posture and gave a sidelong glance at Shizu. “I could use some stress relief.”
“Huh? What do you even.. Oh..” Touma apparently understood and discreetly glanced in Shizu’s direction. He turned to look Azi dead in the eye. Azi nodded and Touma returned it.
This was like that time with Yashimu. Azi had met another fellow soul who had to deal with Shizu and her.. Wild.. ways. He turned back to the mound of dirt in front of him and focused his mind, imagining the energy and flame in his right arm bursting out when he would punch. Solidifying that image, he struck out with a straight.
*Bang* *Crack* *Boom*
Connecting with the lump of solid earth with a bang caused the front face to crack as his right fist began to dig in, knuckles first. A few cracking sounds ripped their way through and finally a boom resounded as the lump of earth shook as if bursting from within. Slithering licks of red flames began to seep out from a spreading of cracks, which soon crumbled from the inside out.
“Woah!”
“Now that’s a punch!”
The soldiers began to holler and cheer at Azi for the entertaining display. Azi looked to his right arm and he found that it was no longer bathed in fire. Touma came to his side. Azi was about to apologize for making a mess but was cut off before getting a word in.
“AMAZING!” Touma shouted in exuberance. Azi began to think that this guy was really interested in thaumaturgy. He also remembered how Kajima told him that this Touma character was a researcher and a nerd when it came to all things thaumaturgy.
"Truly impressive!” Touma continued as he examined the rubble Azi had made, “Not only do you have a natural talent for manipulating magical energies, but you also seem receptive to them! Say, would you like to be my apprentice as well?”
“Uh? What?”
That took Azi off guard, Touma’s compliment was a lot to handle. He scratched the back of his head in embarrassment as Touma continued to try and persuade him with the offer. Putting a hand up to pause Touma’s rush of words, Azi had to disappoint him.
"Thank you for the compliment, but no thanks. I already have two teachers so a third would make it difficult to manage my time."
“Aw! What! Well that's a damn shame.”
Touma got a pat on the back from Shizu to comfort his broken ambition.
"So Azi?” Shizu asked. “Is there anything else you need to ask or should we get going?"
"No, I think I have what I need for now.” Azi said, then met Touma’s somber gaze. “Hey, Touma? While I can’t be your apprentice, could I come meet you again to talk about rune crafting and engraving sometime in the future? We got off topic, so let’s talk some more in the future."
"Sure thing, here!” Touma said. “Take this with you.” He excitedly rummaged through his pack and handed over a slip of paper. “Its location talisman, so just pour magic energy into this and it will guide you to where I am, but the range is limited so if it doesn't work then that means I had to leave the village for an assignment."
“Oh, thanks.” Azi accepted the talisman. “I'll be sure to use it.” He stowed it away then asked, “While we’re here Shizu, is there anything you need to do at the barracks?"
"No, I'll handle it later as it's not that pressing."
"Alright then. Let's head to the next destination."
The pair then began walking out of the barracks, hand in hand. This made all the soldiers, including Touma, become somewhat stunned yet again. Everyone knew of Shizu's alias as the Man Killer and couldn’t believe that she was holding hands with a boy.
Even though they initially thought Azi was likely a kid due to his outward appearance, their assumptions crumbled when they saw him use magic. Magic was something only adults could use as the magic channels in a person are only able to produce magical phenomena after they passed a certain age. That age meant Azi was of marriageable age, so the shock of the recent events was starting to spread a new rumor.
Touma, the foremost expert here in the village, reviewed what he knew. The empire legally set the age of an adult to be 16 since any person at that age and above could be tested for an aptitude. If they had an aptitude, they could also pursue professional careers such as a thaumaturge or even become mercenaries if they had enough internal magic energy to fuel the more potent reinforcement magic.
This all confirmed to Touma, and the soldiers, that Azi was an adult, though the crucial take away didn’t elude Touma. The reveal that Shizu was getting close to a potential suitor was concerning, but the more intriguing topic for him was this encounter. Even still, the assumed relationship Azi had with Shizu would start to spread amongst the soldiers of Kujyuri, becoming common gossip while the bigger concerning topic was only known to Touma.
*****
As Touma saw Shizu and Azi off with a wave, one of the soldiers walked up to his side with a questioning gaze on the departing pair.
"So that is Shizu's apprentice? They are quite close, you think the little guy has a chance?”
"I would recommend you be careful of who you say that in front of.” Touma warned, not showing a hint of his amicable or academic self from before. “If Lady Shizu hears you saying such implicating words, your manhood would be promptly removed."
The soldier flinched. Touma's deadpan look made it apparent that it wasn’t a joke. Looking closer, the soldier noticed that Touma seemed a bit shaken as his hands were somewhat trembling in what he could identify as bewilderment since he was somewhat accustomed to Touma and his.. Tendencies.
The practitioner was a goof sometimes, but he was a rising young noble. Wanting to change the subject, the soldier asked, “So, what's wrong? I know you’re excited with what you saw from that kid, but this seems different. Was there anything interesting about that kid's magic?"
"Yes, That “kid” is well.” Touma took a moment to think on how he would describe what he witnessed. There was no amount of words he could use to justify or elaborate on what he saw. He opted to say something simple to summarize. “He is not normal."
"How so?" The soldier asked.
Sighing, Touma thought on where to start.
"First off, he was able to reabsorb magic energy and that isn't normal. Usually when magic energy takes physical form and then converted back into magic energy, these energies are usually dispersed, not reabsorbed. Reabsorbing is possible but is incredibly painful and is an ineffective technique when it comes to spell conjuring as the conversion of external magical energies into internal magical energies is low. In all, it was said to only be efficiently possible with weapons, though that was a hypothesis among the Empire’s purview.”
Touma paused and looked at the veins on his own hand, comparing it to Azi’s from before. “But that boy was able to absorb so much of it and wasn’t in any pain. Not to mention his spell's effect was evident from the results. He was also able to break the construct I made using the energies he absorbed. It was like he was enhancing them, using himself as a catalyst."
Your construct was made out of dirt, of course it would break. Is what the soldier wanted to say, but before he could Touma cut in, as if already knowing that he’d argue on that fact.
"The construct I made was created from compressing the dirt into a material that was as hard as low-grade steel. I made it to show the boy how earth magic would work, but it was mind-numbing to see him break it with a single punch.”
Tensing his arm to stop his trembling, Touma turned back to the surprised soldier. “We should keep an eye on the boy, he seems interesting, which makes sense since he is Shizu's apprentice. He might also be under King Ozen’s view."
"Really? Well, if you think so. You got it right though, that kid is interesting.” The soldier, wanting to move on, changed subjects yet again, he didn’t really like how the topic was moving into the realm of political matters. “But this is good news for us.” He said with a joking smile. “Lady Shizu always seemed bored these last few months. Something has finally piqued her interest, so she’ll be off our backs for a while. We can relax with her not hounding us on training anymore."
"Agreed.” Touma smiled. “But I hope that boy survives her training, if not, it will be a shame to lose such a talented kid."
The soldier and Touma spent the next few moments sharing a dry laugh as they shivered at the thought of the future trials that awaited Azi. As they did, Touma could not get his mind off another hypothesis he had about Azi.
His magic energy is different from any I’ve seen. His capacity is a little larger than mine but even still, his magic channels seem.. Alive? Just who the heck is he? Some kind of practitioner of a different mystic art? And why would he ask me for guidance?
Off a distance away, Shizu suddenly sneezed which caught Azi off guard. Wiping her nose clean with a handkerchief, she wondered if she should get a coat for the cold.
Feeling as if this seemed right to say, Azi, out of nowhere, muttered, "I wonder if someone is talking about you."
Overhearing this strange phrase, Shizu gave him a questioning look.
"And what does that mean?" She asked, incredulous.
"Oh! Nothing.” Azi said hurriedly. “Just thought it’d fit the situation.”
Scrutinizing him, Shizu thought to ask again, except had to suddenly catch up to Azi as he had found something interesting to look at yet again. This was the third detour after leaving the barracks, at this rate, they’d be out here all day, and would never reach all the destinations they had in mind.
Jeez. Shizu kept in a scoff, trying to not be so judgemental for a first. Today was going to be a slow one, though it was enjoyable.