I looked at Voxea like she was absolutely insane, which wasn't hard due to the manic gleam in her inhuman purple eyes. It was unsettling and pretty at the same time.
"Wha- You know I've been saying 'what' a lot today, so I'm gonna change it to, Why?", I said with exasperation in my tone.
"Well my dear Silvia", Voxea began to playfully lecture, "While you may be a binder, which means you have aether channels, and have some semblance of aether flowing through your body through those aforementioned channels, it is simply too weak for what I need to be able to teach you true magic".
"Okay, so that means...".
"It means that normally I would have you recite and study formulas and spells for hours on end until your aether channels flow better and your brain feels like giving up, but we don't have the time and I don't have the materials necessary for that. So we're gonna modify a ritual from the druids and forcibly open and strengthen those aether channels!", Voxea said a little too excited for my liking.
I stared at her with a deadpan look for a few minutes then released a heavy sigh. "Alright", I said, "What do we need to do"?
"Yay! I knew you would agree"!
"Didn't have a choice".
"I know, but it's the thought that counts", Voxea said, "Now then, first we'll need to draw the circle using those ashes you gathered in a specific pattern".
Voxea grabbed the pine branch and floated over to the mushroom circle. "Now I'm gonna draw out the circle in the snow and I'll need you pour the ashes into the the crevices as I draw it. So get behind me", she instructed.
Starting from the center of the mushroom ring, Voxea drew several interconnected lines in the snow and occasionally drawing a symbol here and there. The whole time she was muttering something under her breath. Meanwhile, I diligently followed behind the flighty maji...monster and poured the black ashes into them. Not sure why she specifically needed these ashes, but I'm just gonna assume ancient magic stuff that's too complicated for me to understand.
As we finished filling in the last of the circle, Voxea placed the rune disc from her tomb in the center of the circle. I took a step back to behold our handiwork. The magic circle looked strange, filled with patterns and symbols I didn't recognize and I swear it was somehow moving despite being a static image.
Well I was impressed with how elaborate the whole thing looked, Voxea looked rather peeved at our handiwork. Before I could ask what's wrong, Voxea smacked her forehead and went, "Duh", right before conjuring a purple fireball and throwing it at the circle.
The fireball landed squarely on the disk, which began to hum to life and spin. As the disk began to spin, tiny sparks of purple flame jumped from the center flame and onto the magic circle. The entire magical circle soon blazed with purple light, the parts made of ashes anyways. The mushroom ring in the center instead glowed in rainbow colors.
Voxea floated into the center of the circle while holding the pine branch horizontally.
"Now once you step into this circle, there is no going back".
"What's with the voice"?
"Pfft nothing. Just remembering an old friend. Now get in the circle and let's do this thing!", Voxea said excitedly.
I gingerly stepped over the purple fire lines and met Voxea in the center of the circle.
"Good now grab onto the branch, close your eyes and take a deep breath", Voxea instructed. With a shrug, I did as instructed. I honestly expected more flashing lights and loud noises
"Relaxed? Good, because this next part is going to hurt", Voxea said with a cryptic tone.
"Wait? Wha-GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"! AND WITH THAT SCREAM MY BODY FELT LIKE IT WAS ON FIRE!