With the last class of the day ending, students emerging free from their last class of the day, the sun beat down on the pavement of the school as the sounds of chatter began to intensify once more.
With a few birds swooping overhead, enjoying the humid weather, Erina shielded her eyes, taking cover from the sun, waiting to be taken away by Blizzard to her lessons.
"I lost this time, see? My luck isn't what you always say it is," Erina murmured to Yuiko while fanning her face, "And when did this heat wave come in… it's unbelievably hot right now."
Watching their other three team members walk off to go get some ice cream, Yuiko nodded, leaning back, "It is quite hot, it's still not too bad for me, I think my magic gives me some resistance to heat after all, mostly when I'm casting, sadly, not super passively."
Leaning against the railing under the shade, opening her mouth about to continue her conversation with Yuiko, Erina felt a sudden chill, her vision's perspective shifting like a mirror being readjusted. Erina feeling this feeling once more, this time, knew that Blizzard had come, once again to whisk her off to a practice area.
Meanwhile, Yuiko, gazing into the distance, witnessing another group of students walk past, laughing, eating ice cream that was so tantalizingly good. As more birds flew overhead, formed in a neat formation, Yuiko could feel a burst of chill signifying Erina's leave, only managing to let out an "ah-", before being taken in a gust of heat.
Reappearing in a practice area with Blizzard in front of her, Erina fell back onto the ground, taking a moment to reorient herself, staring off into the distance with a vacuous stare.
"You here~?" Blizzard asked with a chuckle, waving her hand in front of Erina's eyes, "I know it's quite hot, taking a toll on us ice affinity people, but it's something that you'll have to get over eventually…"
Snapping back to reality, Erina coughed, with a slight tinge of embarrassment on her cheeks, "Yep, I'm here! I'm fine, just a little out of it!"
Breaking into a dazzling smile, Blizzard nodded, "Great to hear! Let's get started then shall we~?"
"Okay! Sounds good~!" Erina replied, her own excitement rising as Blizzard's did, "What first then? Fancy new magic? Some super secret technique?"
"Not quite~ not quite~" Blizzard laughed, taking a seat on the ground across from Erina, "let's start with something a little more… basic you could say, why don't you describe to me the magic system? I want to see what you know so far~"
Tapping her chin, Erina began, "So overall everyone has magic in the world, but most people don't really have enough to make it useful, so they just stay in normal school. We then also use a focus to help control, and channel our magic to make it come easier to us. Also I know that there are different tiers of magic, going from one to ten, ten being the highest! It's everyone's dream to become a tier 10 magician! Otherwise though, that's about it, the other stuff is small nuances, like pronunciation when casting can help make it stronger slightly, and be more consistent with being able to cast the spell."
"Anything else, nuance wise you can bring up?" Blizzard asked with a curious look, doodling a little with ice lines on the floor, "even the small stuff is very important, you know?"
"I think I can name a few more?" Erina murmured, copying Blizzard by also drawing some lines on the floor with ice, watching it melt not long after as the heat hung in the air, "It's kind of obvious, but chants get longer the spells go up in tier."
Continuing on, as Blizzard doodled a small bird on the ground, Erina added, "I'm not too clear on how it works, even though I can do it, but you can do silent casting once you get good enough, I just tried it one day, and it worked… Another thing would be parallel casting. I can do it, but just barely with lower level spells."
Letting out a long sigh as she finished, Erina took a moment to readjust her sitting position. On the other hand, Blizzard raised her eyebrows with a slight nod, asking, "Impressive, impressive, most people don't learn this much until a little later. Sadly, it's quite common for people to just not listen to those key lectures…"
"To add to what you just said then," Blizzard explained, using her fingers to draw out translucent jam packed diagrams that would hang in the air for just a moment, "First thing, once you get to tier 6 and above, the lines between spells begin to blur a bit, as most spells are so specialized at that point. Each spell varies wildly in technique, difficulty, use, and power, thus, don't get too hooked on learning the higher level spells for now, just focus on having a solid foundation. That'll allow you, especially with that abnormal affinity, to branch out and specialize in anything you want to."
Wiping away her first few diagrams depicting branches, foundations, and spells, Blizzard continued on, settling into her teaching, "Another thing, spells can be created, it's actually quite a prolific profession. Not a lot of people your age probably know that much about it, you shouldn't be worrying about your career path after all, but it's a job called Spell Crafters."
Grinning as she watched Erina's eyes light up in curiosity, Blizzard continued, "In fact, a common test for Spell Casters early on, is to create a lower tier spell. However, you aren't learning them as the school will only teach ones that are necessary, no need to overburden people with too many spells."
"I didn't mention, however, the other way spells are created," Blizzard laughed with her eyes twinkling, a slight smug expression breaking onto her face as she wiped away a bead of sweat, "usually us higher tiered magicians have created some spells for ourselves. By the time a magician is tier 9 or tier 10, they've usually created a spell or two, or have practiced another spell so much they've taken it to a whole new level."
Amazed, Erina's mouth hung ajar, exclaiming, "Really?! That's amazing! How many have you created then?"
Laughing, Blizzard winked as she broke into a radiant smile, raising a finger to her lips, "It's a secret~ I can tell you it's more than Natsuki though~ and she's made 22 spells~"
"Don't worry, I'll tell you eventually~" Blizzard teased, watching Erina pout hearing her answer, "How about this~? Since you're right now just starting your journey as a magician, a tier 1 beginner, I'll tell you once you get to tier 5, which I estimate will be somewhere in the middle of your highschool time~ How about it~?"
Sighing, Erina groaned as she leaned back, looking up at the light blue sky, devoid of any clouds, "That's soooo long from now though…"
"That's all I'm offering, my dear student~" Blizzard bantered, grinning as she offered a hand to pull Erina off the ground, "So do you agree~?"
"...Fine," Erina relented, taking Blizzard's hand and being hoisted back onto her feet, "You better keep your end of the deal…"
"I will, I will~ No need to worry about that~" Blizzard chuckled, walking along, pulling Erina along, "It's still getting hotter, so shall we move somewhere with some air conditioning to continue this conversation?"