“To meet with a good teacher can be considered one of the greatest blessings in life.” - Kisamedes Aeostolis, philosopher from the early days of the Clangeddin Empire.

“So, I just have the void wrap itself around me?” asked Kino as she conjured another orb of nothingness into existence. Before the eyes of those watching, the inky blackness of the void squirmed as it shifted into a shape reminiscent of a gauntlet around Kino’s right hand and forearm. “Is this good enough? Or should I do more about it?”

“You also need to be able to move freely with it,” lectured the Bone Lord. At his words, Kino immediately tried to move, perhaps a bit too fast, which made him give out another warning. “Not too fast! Get used to it first before you try to move that quickl-”

“Agh! Ah! Ah! Ouch!” screamed Kino in pain as she accidentally touched the conjured void with her flesh. The result was obvious, as the void instantly annihilated the part of her body that came into direct contact with it, and as she jerked her arm from the pain, she ended up accidentally losing the rest of her forearm before the void gauntlet faded away. “Ow ow owwwwww! That hurts!”

“Calm down,” said Aideen as she rushed over to the side of the injured girl, who was still holding the bleeding stump of her arm in a daze. As Kino was unliving, it was child’s play for Aideen to regenerate the lost forearm with a direct infusion of mana, and within moments the girl was hale and healthy once more. The only proof that her forearm had been gone just now was the sleeve on that arm, which was cut shorter than the other side by the incident.

“As I was saying,” continued the Bone Lord as if nothing of note had happened just then, “You will need to get used to doing it slowly first, and only try to move faster once you have a better feel for it,” he said with a shake of his head. “Haste makes waste, though I guess in this case a painful example would serve as a good reminder on why you shouldn’t hurry things up. Practice your control first, then over time start spreading it thinner, and over more areas of your body until you’re confident with it. Think you’re up to it, girl?”

“I don’t know, sir,” replied Kino honestly. Aideen and the rest had kept the Bone Lord’s actual identity a secret from Kino, as they all judged that it would just cause unnecessary pressure on the girl if she were to learn of it. Because of that, Kino had been addressing the Bone Lord simply as ‘Sir’ instead. “But I am willing to try until I can do it.”

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“Haha! That’s a good spirit to have!” praised the Bone Lord with a bark of laughter. “Carry on with your practice, then. With Aideen here you won’t have to worry about injuries, and besides, it’s not like anything you do could kill you anyway,” he said with a toothy smirk. “Laine, Neadric, consider your prior tasks exchanged with watching over and helping guide this girl for the next couple of weeks.”

“Understood, Your Holiness,” intoned the two with respect as they bowed towards the Bone Lord.

“You, girl, are a rare gem that already shines even unpolished,” said the Bone Lord as he addressed Kino directly. “For one to be born with such an instinctive grasp on magic right after their awakening, much less with an affinity as complex and uncooperative as void, is nearly unheard of. Because of that, you should prioritize practicing your control first and foremost.”

“This is for your own good,” continued the Bone Lord with a kindly tone of voice. “You are still young, your soul still has plenty of room for growth in the years to come. Power will come to you in due time, in an almost effortless way, even, but if you could not properly control that power, you would end up hurting people you don’t want to hurt by accident. Because of that, it is imperative that you solidify your control over your magic early on.”

“I… understand, Sir,” answered Kino with a serious tone. “I will learn to control my magic to everyone’s satisfaction!”

Over the week that followed, Kino practiced hard to control her magic in ways that mimicked a Void Dancer’s magic. The first day, she still made mistakes, and Aideen had to heal her several times, but Kino also proved a quick study, and had pretty much managed to stabilize things by the end of the day as long as she moved slowly.

By the third day, she was able to move freely while wearing gauntlets and boots made out of void magic, although the magic constructs were still rather thick and she still couldn’t freely control them, which resulted in quite a bit of collateral damage to the courtyard’s lawn. Around then, Laine explained to her that it would be easier to practice the fine control after she was used to spreading the void thinly, so Kino directed her practice that way.

On the fifth day, the formerly finger-thick void constructs Kino created had thinned to the thickness of a fine sheet of parchment, with the girl spreading it over more of her body while practicing moving with it at the same time. To say that her talent was something seen maybe once in a thousand years was no exaggeration, as she took to new applications of magic like a fish to water.

By the seventh day, Kino had grasped the method – at least one that worked for her – to finely manipulate the thin layer of void that covered her body almost like a second skin, all without touching her clothing or fur. She could freely shift away parts of the layer, which allowed her to grasp things or to step on objects without damaging them. That she managed feats most Void Dancers took years to master even with their natural talent for it within a week spoke for itself.

The girl was a prodigy at magic.