“In the beginning, Shaina created the four races; humans, elves, beasts and borgos.” William said as he and Fuyuki sat down on a couch at his personal office.

With the curtains drawn aside and the windows fully opened, sunlight colored the entire office. The desk in the room carried enormous mounds of papers, and behind it was a gigantic bookshelf filled with dizzying books. On the left side of the bookshelf was another door.

In front of the desk were two couches, each faced in opposite directions, with a small glass table in between. Other than that, two big paintings dominated the wall, a portrait of a man and woman. Though I didn’t know who they were, I could say for sure that it was intimidating to look at.

“Elves, beasts, and borgos were given their own special traits. Elves could control magic freely; it is as natural as breathing for them. Beasts were given immense strengths, so immense that even a child could carry a big rock as if it is a fruit. Borgos were bestowed with unequal intelligence, as you saw from the bathroom, their minds are thinking centuries into the future. Would you like to know what Shaina gave to humans?”

“Yeah! Now that I think about it, I don’t see anything that set us apart from the other races…” Fuyuki crossed her arms.

“Correct,” William smiled. “We’re the same as them. Shaina gave us what makes them special but we are still inferior to them. We can use and make our magic powerful, we can train ourselves to be stronger, we can make ourselves smarter but the other three races are tremendously on a different level than us. If we rank all the races, humans could never be in the first.”

“But that’s what makes us also special. Because we’re neither at the last nor at the top, and this gives us an advantage over others. While elves are the best when it comes to magic, they are far worse than us when it comes to physical strength. But that’s not to say they aren’t any elves that are physically stronger. Remember, never generalize an entire race.”

“Okay, I think I understand,” Fuyuki nodded her head repeatedly. “But why are you telling me this?”

“It’s only a piece of information about this world,” William stood up and went behind his desk, where the bookshelf was, then picked a book. I knew I’d seen it somewhere as it looked incredibly familiar. “But indeed I digressed. Let’s move on to our main topic. Can you tell me what the Guild has taught you so far?”

Fuyuki told him what she learned.

She said a lot of foreign words to him but, surprisingly, I managed to keep up with the conversation. Fuyuki often showed bizarre yet somehow cute actions that made you wonder where she came from but when she talked to William, I could see she wasn’t fooling around.

Magic was a universal unseen force that was seen in every being in Dlimor. There are seven type of magic: Harim, Sal, Kann, Prae, Askre, Broeq, Neuin or in human language, Fire, Ice, Water, Earth, Wind, Light and Dark respectively. Most humans possessed only one type of magic, at least humans who chose to.

The components of magic were Femel, Eletia and Menien or Offensive, Defensive and Utility respectively. Some type of magic was better used as offensive, defensive or utility but they were not tied only to one specific component but to all.

What made learning magic difficult was the fact that each type of magic had their own incantations that were necessary in order to use a spell.

After listening to Fuyuki, William contemplated as he drank the tea on the table. “Well, that is in line with my expectation, the Guild is not the best place to learn magic.” He stood up and grabbed a bunch of books on the shelf behind his desk. He then placed them on the table. The books were so large even I wondered if I could carry one and yet William had no problem carrying several of them.

“What are these?” Fuyuki picked up one of the books. She realized she couldn’t carry it so she instead opened the one at the very top. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say these books could be use as a weapon since the cover looked so sturdy and yet they carried the style for nobles.

“These are books some beginners book that I took when I first started doing magic. How many spells can you create before you reach your limit?”

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Fuyuki counted on her hand. “I can manage about four or five if I really want to reach my limits but after that, I think I would pass out.”

William nodded. “I see. Well then, let’s start first by maximizing on how many spells you can make.”

“Why is that?” Fuyuki tilted her head. “Wouldn’t it be better for me to know powerful spells?” She seemed genuinely confused. I was too but William’s considered to be one of the Pinear Mages, so I was sure he had a reason why.

“Alternatively, we can go that path but it’s in your best interest to expand your spirit’s energy. Generally, conflicts tend to be prolonged especially if both parties are balanced in terms of power. Having powerful spells drains a lot of your mana but having moderate spells relatively drains it slower. Would you rather drop one or two powerful spell then fall, unable to help your party or would you rather help your party throughout the entire fight by slowly depleting your mana using moderate spells?”

“I get where you’re coming from but I really want to learn something cool…” Fuyuki dejectedly sighed. Knowing her, she probably wanted to show it off to Takana and make fun of him.

William chuckled. “We’ll get to that soon. For now, let’s focus on your spirit’s energy, okay?” He looked at Fuyuki as if he was talking and consoling a child. I could see why she trusted him so much.

“I understand!” Fuyuki grinned broadly. “So, how do I expand my Spirit’s energy?”

“The common accord within the magic community is that every mage has a Spirit. Once a mage unlocks their Spirit, the Spirit then gets the energy of its host, which turns to the Spirit’s energy, thus giving the ability for the host to use magic.” As he was talking, he demonstrated how it worked.

“Oh, I know that! The Symbiosis Theory by the elves!” Fuyuki answered confidently.

“That’s right,” William smiled. “What I said was the simplified form of the theory. So, if a Spirit takes energy from us, what do you think you should do to have an abundant amount of energy?”

“Hmmm…” Fuyuki thought hard about it. “Well, to have an abundant of energy, one must be physically and mentally healthy.”

William smiled. “Correct. Are you physically and mentally healthy, Fuyuki?”

“I think I am physically healthy,” Fuyuki stretched, run and jumped around. Well, we’d been travelling for quite a while so I would say she was in top form. “And don’t even get me started about my mental health!” Fuyuki was certain about it. I’d seen her cry a lot of times but these days, she seemed to be happier, especially seeing familiar faces.

William laughed. “It seems the first step has already been taken. Being physical healthy means your body can handle the pressure of the Symbiosis but the most important of it all is that a mage must have a strong mind. A Spirit resides from the mind of a mage and if a mage’s mind is feeble, it can hinder its ability to do the Symbiosis. Furthermore, the mind’s also connected to the second step: the communication with your Spirit.”

“Wait, I can communicate with my Spirit!?” Fuyuki shouted loudly. “This thing on top of my head!?” She pointed on top of her head. I hadn’t seen the “Spirit” that mages had but if I remember correctly, Fuyuki’s Spirit was a cat. No wonder she was shocked

William nodded. “Since our Spirits reside in our mind, we are able to communicate with them.” All of a sudden, Fuyuki seemed surprised as her eyes darted toward William’s open palm.

“It’s so cute!” Fuyuki screamed loudly as she got closer to William. She placed her hands in midair as if she was touching something. “Oh, I’m sorry! I was just really excited to see a spirit talking!” Fuyuki smiled as she slowly backed away. It seemed she was talking to the William’s Spirit.

“His name is Grimpy. As you saw, he has a habit of being consistently polite in situations like a certain someone.”

“Certain someone? You mean you? The way he acted just now reminds me of you.”

“Quite. A Spirit’s personality can more or less depend on its host.”

“Huh…” Fuyuki’s eyes looked upward. “Well, I’m excited to meet her!” she excitedly giggled. Good for her.

“Oh, I bet you are.” I said. I would love to meet her spirit but alas, I wasn’t a mage, though I wonder if Kihana could see her Spirit.

“Bonding and creating an empathetic atmosphere with its own Spirit can make a mage powerful. Knowing about your Spirit is in essence the same as knowing your own mind, and when a mage deeply knows about its own Spirit, they unlock, let’s just say a whole new world.”

“A new world…?”

William nodded. “Fundamentally, magic is all about the mental state of a being. Each individual varies on how they can reach their true potential. I may be able to teach you a few shortcuts but ultimately, you’re going to have to carve your own path, Fuyuki.”

Fuyuki nodded heavily. I felt myself doing it, too. We all knew what was at stake here. We needed to get stronger in order to survive but most importantly, especially to her, was to never lose another friend again.

“But you don’t have to worry about that. For now, focus on your Spirit’s energy.” William gave Fuyuki a paper. “I wrote your schedule here. We’ll start doing those tomorrow. I might be lax on you but when it comes to magic, I am serious and strict. I’ve taught a lot of students and most of them have quit my lecture. I hope you prepare yourself.”

“Well, it’s not like I will die, right?” Fuyuki wryly laughed. it was as if she couldn’t believe what she just said.

William closed his eyes and smiled. Even thought he was smiling, it terrified me and Fuyuki.

Well, good luck, Fuyuki.

“I’m afraid I have some task to do.” William glanced at the table. “See you tomorrow, Fuyuki.”