After he met the grand duke, Mia led him to the garden behind their mansion. Alicia decided to tag along to make sure Alex didn't ogle around her sister.
The garden was filled with grass and beautiful flowers, but the space around it was enough for him to practice.
Mia led him to the middle of the garden to ensure that his Fire Magic wouldn't burn the flowers and she started explaining, but…
"If you want to use Fire Magic, you just need to chant the spell." Mia finished her explanation.
"…" It took Alex a few seconds before he realized that she had finished, he tilted his head in confusion.
"I knew this would happen." Alicia shook her head and sighed. She looked at Alex and said, "Elder Sister Mia is always like this when teaching someone. Let's just say that she has a different perspective than the norm. I will teach you the basic first."
Mia rolled her eyes away, not feeling guilty, while Alex nodded his head.
"Let me explain how to manipulate the mana inside your body first. Try feeling the mana as if they are a warm gas flowing inside your body. Then try to move them to your right hand first." She explained while touching Alex's chest before reaching his right hand.
Following her words, Alex started feeling a warm gas flowing in his body. He tried to control them and let them flow toward his right hand.
Alicia blinked her eyes a few times as if she just saw something incredible.
"This…" Alicia gasped while Mia stepped back. Alicia gritted her teeth and didn't want to let this chance go. She continued by touching a few places in his body. "Try moving them again to your left hand, right foot, left foot, heart…"
Alex didn't say anything and continued according to her instruction. He gradually opened his eyes after Alicia didn't say anything for a minute.
"I feel refreshed." This was the first thing Alex said after showing a remarkable show.
On the other hand, Alicia and Mia were terrified. Even her sister Mia who was the fastest one in the family to learn this technique needed an entire day before she could control her mana freely. Yet, Alex just broke that record easily.
"Is this the Pure Element in the legend?" Mia muttered to herself.
Alicia gulped down and started back to Alex. She didn't know whether this was Alex's normal comprehension speed or a once in a lifetime thing, so she didn't want to waste it. "If you want to use magic, you can try channeling your mana into your voice as you chant the fire spell."
"A spell?" Alex tilted his head in confusion again.
Alicia glanced at Mia who nodded her head and came closer. "Please follow what I say. The fire in my body, hear my command. Manifest yourself as a ball and burn my enemy."
"…" Alex fell into silence and made a weird expression.
"Why aren't you saying anything?" Alicia reminded him as she wanted Alex to take this chance and learn the Fire Magic in one go.
"Isn't it embarrassing… I mean, saying that aloud?" Alex scratched his cheek with a tinge red in his face.
"Why do you think it is embarrassing? It's such an honor for us to cast the spell. Hurry up and start chanting." Alicia was getting infuriated and she reprimanded him while Mia nodded her head in agreement.
"Fine… The fire in my body, hear my command. Manifest yourself as a ball and burn my enemy." His voice was shaking as Alex was too embarrassed to say it, especially with two women watching him. And obviously, nothing happened.
Alicia thought this was his first time, so it was normal for him to stutter. She sighed and comforted him. "It's fine. It's normal to fail on your first try. I am sure you will get the hang of it soon."
However, Alex's next words made her speechless.
"I forgot to imbue my mana in my chant because it was too embarrassing." Alex looked away while gently scratching his cheek.
"…" Alicia and Mia twitched their eyebrows, looking very annoyed. Their eyes intertwined and the two seemed to have the same thought. They looked at Alex and grabbed him before starting to explain the pride of a mage.
After a full thirty minutes lecture, Alex resigned himself. "It's fine as long as I don't fail, right?"
Without waiting for their response, Alex took a deep breath. The mana in his body slowly gathered around his mouth as he said, "The fire in my body, hear my command. Manifest yourself as a ball and burn my enemy."
A red fireball in the size of a head appeared in front of him, making Alicia and Mia sigh. As Alex said, he just forgot to imbue his mana because it was embarrassing.
"It's embarrassing." Alex sighed, not happy with his achievement.
Alicia and Mia were irritated by the fact that Alex didn't realize how big this matter was. They couldn't help but lecture him again.
In the end, Alex realized something and asked. "Is there any special meaning about the chant we use?"
"Of course. The chants we use now are formed from many experiments in the past. It has been enhanced to get the best efficiency for its output. In the past, this chant only created a small fire at the size of your pupil."
"Hmm?" Alex pondered for a moment as if he realized something. 'Can I combine science? I don't know much about science, but I still know one or two… Let's try it.'
"Take in the oxygen and burn." As Alex chanted so, a big fire that was close to the size of his body appeared out of nowhere. Alex was astonished at first, but he was happy to see it was a success.
On the other hand, the other two couldn't utter a single word. They grabbed Alex's shoulders and shook his body back and forth. "Wh-Wh-What was that?"
"Ca-calm down!" Alex tapped their hands a few times, telling them to release him first.
Alicia and Mia looked at each other, they then nodded and released Alex in a unison. Mia, who didn't talk much since the first time, finally asked her first question. "What was that chant?"
"Ehm… It's something called Science." Alex was a bit confused about how to explain this.
"Science?" Alicia and Mia opened their eyes wide before tilting their heads in confusion.
"If I want to explain what science is, it will be too long. My knowledge is shallow to boot. So, I will talk a little about fire. What I did earlier was infusing the oxygen in the air and combusting it."
"Oxygen?"
"How do I put this… You can say there is a substance that you can't see in the air called oxygen. That's it." Alex didn't know how to explain science from the start and chose the easiest way to explain.
"Then how do you know about this knowledge?" Alicia asked while narrowing his eyes.
"This…" Alex looked away as he didn't want to answer this question.
"Are you related to the hero summoning in the Zircodina Kingdom, somehow?" Alicia tried to press him on this topic.
Alex only looked down with a bitter face. Alicia could only stop and sigh after watching his expression. "It's fine if you don't want to say it."
Alex felt relieved. "I can only say this. Yes, I was related to that, but I am just a normal commoner."
Alicia stared at his face for a minute before she smiled. It was enough for her. After all, Alex never said anything about his past in the past few months they traveled together, so this was an improvement. Hence, she decided to reward him by telling another fact. "Actually, you can use magic without chanting."
"Really?" Alex widened his eyes.
"Yeah. You can chant in your mind and imagine forming your magic at the same time. In fact, Sister Mia can also do it." Alicia glanced at Mia.
Mia shook her head and humbly said, "It's only a few basic magic."
"Just that?" Alex tilted his head in confusion as he never thought that there was a simple way to escape his embarrassment.
Alicia shook her head. "It's hard, you know. You need to do it at the same time, especially while fighting. That's why most mages can't do this. Besides, it will also take a toll on your body and mind."