Turning to face Zeke, Nasrin beckoned him forward with her talon. “We will start immediately, although I’ll be showing you the aviankin’s magic, so while I train Circe, do your best to learn these spells as fast as you can.”
“You know magic?” Zeke tilted his head, a slight frown creasing his face. “I don't sense any mana from you though.”
“I can't use magic, yes,” as Nasrin responded, she began to draw shapes into the soil with her sharp nails. It didn't take long until the image of a magic circle took form. “But I’ve seen my shamans’ works, they're not perfect copies, but since witches are good with these types of things, you’ll be fine.”
Hearing her explanation, a look of confusion flickered across his face. “...I’m not a witch though,” he frowned more after seeing Nasrin straightened, having drawn three circles on the ground. “These…aren't complete.”
“Obviously,” Nasrin looked up at him. “I can't remember every single detail on a magic circle, after all, so this is all you’ll have to work with,” she gestured towards her drawings. “The one on the right is a barrier spell. The middle one is for increasing speed, and the last one is a frost spell meant to slow enemy movements.”
As Zeke stared at the loosely-drawn magic circles before him, he plopped down onto the dirt, crossing his legs. “I could just learn these types of spells on my own, is there a reason why it has to be these ones?”
“Because they're ancient magic,” Nasrin responded as she rose to her feet. “You really don't know anything despite being a witch yourself, huh? Witches draw their strength from the purest source of mana; from nature itself. It's better you learn the old form of magic rather than whatever you modern folks came up with for the sake of your own convenience.”
“I just said I'm not a witch…” Zeke glanced at Circe briefly, judging by the look she returned that even she hadn't heard of anything about this part of Dungeon Regime’s lore either. “...How do you know what modern magic is like when you’ve been stuck here?”
“It's like that in my original world too,” Nasrin shrugged, turning around. “We aviankins live with nature, occasionally, some of us, including myself, would venture out into the human kingdoms. That's when we realized magic has steered far from its original, pure form. It's hard to find a human who knows how to use mana in its base form, apart from the witches, that is.”
Zeke returned his gaze towards the magic circles on the ground. Summoning the Witch’s Codex, he began flipping through the tome’s pages. “Alright, maybe I can find something here…” The thought passed his mind.
“...Now that he's occupied,” Nasrin turned to Circe, her keen, fierce eyes studying her poise like a predator looking down on its prey. “Take out your weapons, it's time to whip you into shape. I’ve watched your battles, and I’d say your movements are much too basic, Circe. All you’ve got going for you is speed, which I assumed it's a short-burst type of technique.”
Circe summoned her daggers into her grips, getting into a battle stance immediately. “It's a bit complicated to explain for you, but we can say that it's a technique, yes,” she watched as Nasrin nonchalantly strolled to the other side of the field, gaining enough distance so a battle wouldn't disturb Zeke during work. “There are conditions to use that technique consecutively. It's bad when I'm fighting a single target, but amazing if I can pick off enemies in a group.”
“I assumed so,” Nasrin responded with an understanding nod as she got into position, holding out her talons. Evening sunlight reflected on the sharp, black claws, creating the illusion that they might have been made from steel. “Though your base speed is pretty decent as well-”
Suddenly, a gust of wind blew from Circe’s left. Before her body could react, her gaze landed on Nasrin beside her. “-but it's still far too slow to keep up with me.”
“...Ha,” Circe felt the corner of her mouth tilted into a nervous grin, eyes falling onto Nasrin’s talons lightly pressed against her neck. “Are you kidding? I couldn't even see you.”
As Nasrin lowered her hand, she spoke. “We won’t be training your speed, Circe. Instead, I'll be training your dodging skills.”
“Dodging?” Circe blinked.
“I know what you’re thinking, if you're fast, you can dodge, right? But,” Nasrin turned around. “If you can react to danger before your opponent moves, then you won't need to rely on speed as much.”
“...Won't that require years of training though?” Circe asked, watching as Nasrin returned to her original position on the other side of the field. “Gaining an instinct like that could only come from real battles, I doubt we have that much time.”
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“Well, normally I would just beat you within the inch of your life,” Nasrin shrugged, leaving Circe to wonder in horror whether she meant it as a joke. “But we can't afford any life-threatening injuries here, so I’d force it upon you instead.”
Circe’s confusion only deepened. “...Weren’t you going to beat me because you wanted to force that instinct on me?”
“Otherworlders,” Nasrin disappeared once more, now suddenly standing right behind Circe. “Possess an incredible amount of growth rate. So great in fact, that the human kingdoms where I came from would deliberately summon them as soldiers. It's how I came to know of the Otherworlders’ existence in the first place…Because I’ve met and fought against one before.”
Circe could feel her heart banging against her chest as she turned to face Nasrin. Even though they intended to train, she still felt afraid of the power Nasrin possessed.
“One day, he was just some weakling I didn't pay much attention to,” Nasrin continued, placing her talons on Circe’s shoulder. She realized later that Nasrin had attempted to stop her from shaking. “Then after a week, he suddenly returned, way too strong for me to defeat. Quite unfair, if you ask me,” Nasrin let out an amused huff. “Well? My method seems to be working so far since your body’s naturally reacting to a stronger presence…or maybe you were like this from the start?”
Circe took a deep breath. Smiling softly, she responded with a shake of her head. “No, I’d say I’d gotten sharper only because I was focused on fighting.”
“But for a human, your primal instincts are extraordinary,” Nasrin lowered her hand. “Give yourself some credit. I don't need you to surpass me, only to be capable of taking care of yourself when we fight Tarren.”
“I understand,” Circe looked at Nasrin, a wide grin creeping up her lips. “Let's do this again. One attack…If I can dodge one of your attacks, that's good, right?”
As Nasrin strode over to the other side, her chuckles echoed through the air. “Yep, that's fair enough,” she turned and raised her talons, a hint of determination reflected within her eyes. “Show me your strength, Otherworlder.”
.
.
.
‘BOOM!’
The ground shook with intense force as dust covered the field. Nasrin lowered her talon, feet striding towards her fallen foe. “...Are you alright, Circe?” Worry etched in her tone as she watched Circe struggle to get up from the ground.
“I am…alright,” she croaked out a response. Her shaky arms lacked the strength to lift her body weight, and she soon found herself facing the dried grassy bed once more. Dirt and sweat drenched her attire, while parts of her skin riddled with bruises and minor cuts from training. “No, actually…Break…I need a break…”
“Yes you do,” Nasrin crooked her head to the side, her voice still filled with concern. “I'm glad to see that you have the stamina to hold on for two hours, though.”
Before Circe could reply, her tired gaze caught onto a notification that manifested in front of her face. As she read its content, she slowly rose from the ground, eyes turning round with surprise.
[The dungeon’s energy resonates with your body.]
[
“What the-” Circe’s brows arched into a frown. Her head snapped to the side, where she saw Zeke reading through the Witch’s Codex while leaning leisurely against a tree. “Zeke…Zeke!”
“Hm?” Zeke glanced up from the tome’s pages, revealing a hint of fatigue under his eyes. “You're taking a break? How did the training go?” His voice sounded strained as he watched Circe sit down next to him.
“Look,” she showed him the system notification, and just like her, Zeke’s eyes widened at the sight as well. “It only went up by one point even though I’ve been doing this for two hours, but isn't this doable? I just need two more points to unlock the Instinct stat.”
“The dungeon’s energy…huh,” Zeke stared at the sentence before him, head slightly tilted to the side. “Maybe it's related to the fact that the game mechanics have adapted to fit reality. This is good news though, we can figure out the real reason later.”
Nasrin soon joined them under the shades. “How’s your progress coming along, Ezekiel?” She asked with her arms crossed.
“Oh, right,” Zeke held up one palm. Suddenly, overlapping blue magic circles appeared above it, slowly rotating in different directions like gears in a machine. “Not done yet, but it's coming along nicely. I can feel that I'm close to learning the barrier spell…though I'm missing something to hold all of this together.”
“...Is it not held together right now?” Nasrin asked.
“Think of this as a projection, like an empty spell with no power behind it,” Zeke explained as he moved the circles to the front, expanding their sizes for better view. Lowering his hand, he stared tiredly at the spinning arcanes. “I looked through the Codex…and I assumed that I'm dealing with an elementless spell: ‘Mana Barrier’. I just can't grasp the strengthening part of the magic, all I can do right now is create a mana sheet that's as weak as paper.”
As Zeke’s eyes trailed to the side, he caught the blank looks of both Circe and Nasrin. “...I have no idea what you're talking about, Zeke,” Circe blinked at him. “Keep all that nerd stuff to yourself. My head almost exploded with information overload.”
At her words, the magic circles suddenly shattered into dust, unable to hold themselves up properly due to the caster’s loss of concentration. “I'm too tired to fight back right now,” Zeke growled in frustration, eyebrows knitted into a deep frown. Bringing up his inventory, he took out a slice of cheesecake from the pound he saved earlier. “If I don't eat more sugar right now, I might die…”
“Eh? Give me some too!” Circe stared at the dessert hungrily.
“...” Zeke silently decided against giving Circe a slice of his precious cheesecake, but after seeing the desperate look on her face, he could only let out a sigh in defeat. Summoning one more slice into his free hand, he gave it to Circe along with a spoon.
“Yay!” In an instant, Circe dug into her dessert. The energy in her voice made Zeke wonder if she’d really received two hours of non-stop training in the first place.