During their outing, the trio commented on how lively the people in the city are today. People were bantering and laughing, and kids were playing in the streets.

Beatrice: "So we should stock up on supplies before we head to the Association."

Soren: "Is it easy to join the Association?"

Beatrice: "It depends. They will first assess you to see if magic training is viable."

Runa: "Beatrice and I had our assessments and can join. You should get assessed too, Soren."

Soren: "I'm excited. I can't wait. So what supplies are you going to buy?"

Beatrice: "Some healing and mana potions. Also, some antidotes."

Soren: "Are there any other types of potions?"

Beatrice: "There are many types of potions. We can look around while we're there."

Soren started thinking about different types of potions, and his mind wandered, thinking about what he would see when he entered the shop. He imagines seeing witches brewing liquids in black cauldrons and magic dust shooting out after something is added to the brew. Soren had always had a vivid imagination.

"We're here."

Soren snaps out of it as they enter. To his surprise and disappointment, the interior is that of a general store, complete with counters and shelves. Everything is categorized and in sections typical of drugstores. There are potions for healing, mana, strength/mental performance, poison, and different resistances, among many others.

The trio purchased the supplies they needed and proceeded to the Association. "What's wrong?" Runa asked. "I don't know. It's not what I expected, I guess." Soren expressed disappointment. "The shop?" Runa continued. "Yeah," Soren said, looking at the floor.

Beatrice: "It's a normal item shop. They mostly sell low-grade stuff because it's mass-produced."

Soren: "That's not what I mean."

Runa: "Oh, did you want to see it being made?"

Soren: "Yeah, something like that."

Beatrice: "The Institute may let you watch it being made. We can ask them someday."

The trio arrived at the Association. "Oh, hi! I'm glad to see you all again!" Cecile eagerly greeted the group. "We have a free day today, so we decided to come here," Beatrice said. "I wanted to know if it's difficult to learn magic." Soren inquired.

Cecile: "That depends on the person. Some people have potential, but many may only be able to learn to control their mana. Let's find out what your potential is." She grabbed a black circular crystal cradled on an elaborate and beautiful stand. "This is a black onyx crystal. If you remember, I mentioned these gems are great for scrying and magic training. Scrying is a great way to determine if someone has the potential for magic. Place your hands on the crystal, then imagine a person, place, or thing. The clearer the image, the greater your potential. Would you like to try?"

Soren put his hands on the crystal and tried to imagine his bedroom, but nothing appeared in the crystal. "It's not working. Is it because I'm trying to imagine something from a different world?" He thought to himself. He tries again. This time thinking about the tavern, but again nothing appeared. "Am I doing something wrong?"

Cecile: "Let one of the girls try." Beatrice walked up to the crystal and placed her hands. Suddenly a red-haired woman appeared. The image was foggy but visible enough to see her. "Such a beautiful woman," Cecile said in response.

Beatrice: "She was my mother."

Cecile: "You look just like her. You have my condolences... As you saw, Soren, that's how the crystal works, but I don't understand why it didn't work for you. Everything in the world has mana to varying degrees. Did you have trouble focusing, or do you not know how to control your mana?", "I don't know how to control mana," Soren replied.

Cecile: "It's easy but, like magic, requires training. First, let me give you something." She handed Soren a vial of liquid, "Drink this. It's a mana potion." Soren drank the potion, "Ugh, it's bitter," he said. Cecile continued, "OK, place your hands back on the crystal. Now clear your mind and focus. Think about the center of your body. Try to feel energy forming at its core, then push from your core to your arms and out through your hands into the crystal while imagining something. Even if nothing forms, there should be a response from the crystal." Try as he might, the crystal would not respond to him. Cecile told him to think of something simple like a coin, but the crystal did not respond.

Cecile: "I don't get it. Do you not... have mana? This doesn't make sense." Cecile, baffled, tried to figure out why the crystal didn't respond to Soren, "W-Wait... so does that mean I won't be able to learn magic?", His heart sank. The girls try to comfort Soren. He wondered if there would be a way to get him to use mana. "W-Would I.. will I still be able to learn about magic until we figure out what's wrong with me?" Soren said, heartbroken. Cecile felt bad for Soren and agreed.

Cecile: "Let me give you a lesson about elemental magic. Alchemy is the basis for most things, and our magic is derived from it. The four main elements are Fire, Water, Air, and Earth. There are other more advanced elements, but they are based on the main four. Ice and lightning are examples. You already know magic has a price, but with training, we can overcome that price. Learning control, discipline, and restraint is crucial. Your emotions will also influence magic. Without the knowledge or proper skill, magic can create unpredictable or potentially dangerous results, and impulsive or reckless use of magic can be catastrophic. Any questions so far?"

Runa: "Um, we've only seen magic used a few times. Would you mind giving a demonstration?"

Cecile: "Sure. Could you follow me to the back? We have an open atrium that has a grass field.

After reaching the atrium, "Soren, would you mind standing over here?" Cecile asked. "Uh, ok," he replied. "I'm going to use you as my test dummy to demonstrate basic elemental magic," Cecile smirked. "Wait, you're gonna shoot me with magic?" Soren was concerned. "Well, not exactly, but don't worry, I will heal you should something happen," Cecile replied.

Cecile: "So let's start with Fire. The Fire symbol is a triangle facing upward. Magic circles are red when using fire as its dominant element. Water is the opposing element of Fire. As such, its symbol is an upside-down triangle, and the color of its magic circle is blue. Air, also known as Wind, has the same symbol as fire but with a line through it. Its color is yellow. Then Earth. It opposes Air and, like Water, has an upside-down triangle with a line through it, and its color is green. I'll now demonstrate the base elements."

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Cecile holds her staff above her head. Her staff's gem starts glowing, and a red magic circle forms. A ball of fire is being conjured from the circle and swirling around, "Like with the scrying crystal, we envision the flow of mana in our body being pushed through to the staff into the gem. With the black onyx, we manipulate our mana to form the magic circle and symbols required for conjuring fire. With the circle and correct symbols, fire will start forming. That fire is our mana converting to energy. You can use more mana to push the fire in a burst (Celine shoots the fire upward like a flamethrower) or like a projectile (she shot a fireball, and it eventually dispersed). The other three elements operate the same way."

The trios' eyes are glistening.

Cecile then shot a burst of water at Soren, soaking him, "Hey!" he said in shock. Celine continued, "Water using enough propulsion can do serious damage depending on the density of your target. It's also the base element for healing magic. Air is not usually used offensively unless your target is weak to it. However, it does have uses like increasing mobility and removing large debris, or if you have the skill (she fires a wind tornado at Soren, and it swirls around him), you can trap your target in a vortex and kick up rocks to strike him or dust to blind him, "Ack! Uh! Ow! What the hell, Cecile!?"

Cecile dispersed the wind, "Then theirs Earth. The element is often used for protection, but you can also attack with it." She conjured a wall created from the earth, then rock spikes, and pointed them at Soren. "No...no, no, no, no, no, no!" Soren said, fearing for his life. "Relax, I'm not gonna shoot them at you," Cecile chuckled and released the rock spikes, and they fell to the ground. Soren, in relief, collapsed.

Beatrice: "What about ice and lightning?"

Cecile: "Those are combination spells and are more advanced. Ice is the combination of Water and Air (Soren swallowed). Magma is the combo of Fire and Earth," Soren gasped in fear. Cecile pointed her staff at Soren, and a circle appeared. Soren screamed at what will happen next. The ground beneath him instantly turns to slush, "You can even Combine Water and Earth to create mud." Soren gave the loudest sigh of relief ever. Lightning is the combination of all four base elements. The color is purple due to Fire and Water being the dominant elements. To learn this is difficult because (Cecile looked to the sky) lightning needs cold and warm air. When they meet, the warm air goes up. It makes thunderstorm clouds. The cold air has ice crystals. The warm air has water droplets. The droplets and crystals bump together during the storm and move apart in the air. This rubbing makes static electrical charges in the clouds, creating positive energy, while the ground, a tree, and even iron act as negative energy. When conjuring it, Air controls the flow of energy.

"Where the Earth element comes in is it acts as a negative current, so if you don't add the Earth element, any lightning you fire will go straight to the ground. We continuously add mana to hold the lightning and push it to our destination. Lightning strikes quickly. It doesn't use much mana to hold it but takes a considerable amount to conjure. Once you get the hang of it.." Cecile aimed her staff toward the sky. A purple magic circle formed. A bright purple stream of light shot up into the sky. A loud cackle was heard from the lightning strike.

The trio was in awe, "Oops, sorry. I put a little too much into that spell, hehe." Soren looks at Beatrice and Runa, "You two need to learn magic!", "As you just saw, if you're not careful with magic, you can have unintended results," Cecile said. Runa raised her hand, "How much of a difference in output is a magical item versus a mage's staff?"

Cecile: "Great question. The gist of it is the size and type of gem. The larger the gem, the more mana it can store."

Soren: "Magic is amazing!"

Cecile: "It is. We still don't understand everything there is to know about it. The pursuit of knowledge is one of the main goals of Alchemy. In a way, all mages are alchemists, but not all alchemists, are mages. Are there any more questions?"

Soren: "I would like to see how magic items like Beatrice's bracelet compare to a mage's staff in output."

Cecile: "Lucky for you, I keep a few magic items with me. That's another good lesson for you. Always have a backup plan in case things get bad. Here (Cecile handed a bracelet each to Beatrice and Runa), I gave Beatrice a Fire bracelet and Runa a Water bracelet. Beatrice, I would like you to try to use the bracelet."

Beatrice: "I-I've never used one before."

Cecile: "Don't worry, take it slow. You can do it. Be sure to have your palm open."

Beatrice extends her left arm with her palm facing up and starts focusing her mana on the fire bracelet. A small flame began to swirl in her hand, and her face lit up. Then, BOOM! A cloud of black smoke covered Beatrice's' hand. "AH!" The tiny explosion scared Beatrice and made her hand numb.

Cecile: "The spell backfired. You got excited and lost focus. Remember when I said emotions affect spells? Make sure to keep that in mind."

Beatrice tried again, this time staying focused. The fire swirled into a ball. She felt the warmth from the fire. "Now aim for the sky and push the mana out of your hand," Cecile instructed. The fireball slowly left her hand and fizzled away. "Good job." Cecile praised Beatrice, "The fireball fizzled out not long after leaving your hand due to the force you put into pushing it from your hand, and the energy dissipated. The more mana you put into the spell and the amount of mana you use to force it from your hand, the faster and further the spell will travel. Now you try Runa-".

Having listened to Cecile, Runa had already focused her mana on the bracelet forming swirling water. "OK, Runa. Now try to push it.", Try as she might; the water ball would not leave her hand and eventually burst. "Awe." Runa was sad she couldn't fire the water ball.

Cecile: "You'll get it. Before you know it, you two will be blowing away beasts with magic in no time," she gave the girls a smile of encouragement.

With that, Cecile took back the bracelets. "Well, that was fun. I hope you pursue your goal of learning magic. Is there anything else you wish to know while I have the time? No? Then we should return to the lobby."

Soren: "That was awesome!"

Cecile: "There are many different types of magic, some inherent only in beasts, elves, demons, dragons, and most other species."

Soren: "Wait! Elves? Demons? D-Dragons!? What other species!? Why haven't I seen any of them in the city?" (Oh man, I would love to see what they look like!)

Cecile: "The Lord of Fulda has decreed that only humans are allowed in the city. Any non-human that even so much as approaches the wall will be exterminated."

Runa: "I've seen how the guards treat those who break Fulda's law. You don't want to get their sights set on you."

Soren: "Are they that bad?"

Beatrice: "They can be. Just try not to piss any of them off."

Cecile: "Back on topic. To attend formal training, the fee is 250,000 coins which is why only nobles and wealthy families can afford it. That's just for the first tier of magic training."

Beatrice and Runa have depressed expressions on their faces after hearing the fee for training. Beatrice: "It's so expensive. Books cost as much as weapons, even if you try to learn independently. There are tons of books on magic."

Soren: "Really?"

Cecile: "Yes. Magic books can get quite expensive as well. The cheapest starts at 3000 coins. This is why magic items and accessories are commonly used. They are also cheaper to an extent when compared to magic staffs and books."

Soren: "Well, let's try to earn enough coins to get you girls at least one magic book."

Beatrice: "Theirs no need to rush."

Soren: "I know, but we all want to learn, and even though I can't use magic, studying the book would be good enough."

Cecile: "So, have I satisfied your curious minds?" The trio appreciated the lessons, "Then I should get back to work. Feel free to come and see me anytime."

"Thank you very much!" The trio said.

Beatrice: "Let's go to the tavern. I can't wait to tell Hilda!"

Runa: "I hope she won't be upset."

Soren: "Why would she get upset?"

Runa: "You heard Cecile. Magic is an expensive endeavor."

Soren: "Still worthwhile to learn. Magic gives a distinct advantage."

Hilda: "Hey, you three. I thought you would have stopped by before going to the Association?"

Runa: "Sorry, we were excited to go." The trio sat at a table

Hilda: "Heh. Not like it's going anywhere, but I hear you."

Beatrice: "We decided we want to try and learn magic."

Hilda: "Mmm. It's not cheap, and not everyone can learn it, but if that's what you want, I'll support your decision."

Both Girls: "Thank you, Hilda."

Hilda: "So what about you, kid? You going to learn too?"

Soren: "No, I'm not..", looking depressed.

Hilda: "Why not? Too hard for you?"

Soren: "I can't use magic."

Beatrice: "He doesn't have mana."

Hilda: "What? Come on; everyone has mana."

Runa: "He tried using their scrying crystal and couldn't get a reaction even after being taught how to control his mana."

Hilda: "Really? Well, that's a first. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. What a runt you are!"

Runa: "Cecile said they would try to figure out what may be causing it."

Beatrice: "His mana may be being blocked somehow."

Hilda: "Well, don't let it get to ya, kid."

Soren was upset at learning he was unable to use magic. He clenched his fists, and the girls noticed. They looked at him and saw an expression of determination. He was not going to let this hold him back.