It didn't take them long to reach the river. And, Stars, what a sight it was. A clean river without the touch of man was strange to the part of her soul that still was a twenty-first-century woman at heart. Not only that, but the untouched nature surrounding it made it purer. She briefly wondered how could she had ignored when walking but reminded herself that until ten minutes ago, they had been walking through a path made from humans stepping on it.
"So pretty," she whispered with a smile.
Amycus gave her a weird look. "It's just a river."
Coughing on her fist, she approached the river and pointed to the mountains, where the stream began. "We're not going to follow the stream. That way leads to your village, right? So, we need to go upwards. When is dark we can choose a place to set a fire and sleep, what do you think?"
Although she was used to camping, it was with the comforts of tents and lighters, things she currently didn't have. So, she turned towards Amycus. She was in her late mid-twenties but she wasn't that proud to think she didn't need the help of a kid. After all, this kid was more used to this world than she was. So without feeling a bit of embarrassment, she promised herself to ask his opinion more.
He hummed but didn't put any arguments. Instead, he nodded. "Yeah, it would be better even though we would be going deeper into the forest. Besides, that was still long days of travel away."
"Yeah and by that time, I will have some of my energy back. For now, though, I have a question to make you." He tilted his head, waiting for her to elaborate, which, after a deep breath, she did. "Do you want me to teach you magic?"
She saw in his eyes the stubbornness of someone who had been beaten down so much he had started believing in their words, so she stopped before he started. "Indulge me, for a moment. I have a way to prove to you that you have magic. If I'm right, then good. If not, well, at least you tried, right?"
Amycus pursed his lips until they were no more than a thin white line, but he nodded. "Will it hurt?"
"Don't worry, kid. Just give me your hand." She then held her own hand palm up, waiting for his own. When he extended his own, it was no more than a tentative movement. His hand was dry and warm with simple callouses of the kind that showed how much he had work using a sword. However, she didn't care about any of that. Instead, she focused on her own magic. Her depleted core was still a small thing, but she wasn't going to use it, not really, so she didn't have to worry.
Exhaling softly, she focused on moving her energy inside of her, traveling through everything once before she rested it in her hand, to the point where their palms met.
There was a spark.
Amycus gasped, his hand involuntarily moving away, but she didn't let it. She grabbed it tightly.
"Do you feel that? That's your magic reacting to mine, kiddo." She opened her eyes, not really knowing why she had closed them before, and smiled. "Usually one can't do this with an experienced mage as they keep every bit of their power inside them, but you have not learned how to use it so it's spreading outwards on your aura."
"I-I have magic...?" he murmured softly, his eyes so wide she could see the white of his eyes clearly.
She smiled happily, not mentioning anything when he started tearing up. She only opened her arms and hugged him. "Yeah, you do, kiddo."
"I'm not trash," he said, this time sobbing louder. "My dad didn't die for nothing."
Alula didn't know what he meant, but she still nodded as she rubbed his head. "So what about it, Amycus? Want to be my disciple?"
She could feel him nod as he continued to cry. It took him a couple of minutes for him to calm himself and when he did, he said, "You still stink, though."
F*ck you, too, kid!
She pressed him closer to her bosom, her smile strained. "I'm gonna give you hell, kid."
When they parted, she knelt down and grabbed a green leaf from the ground. "Your first job, kid, is to take away all the water from this leaf."
"That's all, master?" he deadpanned, his sarcasm strong.
She nodded, ignoring his tone. "Yup. And don't call me 'master', call me Alula. Or if you really want, call me Alula-sensei!"
"Alula teacher...?" he murmured, the question clear in his eyes.
What.
"How do you know Japanese?"
Japanese was a language from her world, so it's obvious why she was so surprised. She thought here all spoke English as that was what she was hearing everyone talk.
"... Japanese? Is that another language?"
She nodded, now confused herself. "You didn't realize it?"
He gave her another weird look. "Why were you talking in another language. Actually, how do you know another language?"
"How did you understand then?"
He shrugged. "Don't you know we can all understand each other?"
Again, what.
"What? How's that possible."
He shrugged as if saying 'beats me'. "I only know from the army that a long time ago there was an old sage that after watching how we fought each other because of misunderstandings in language, he decided to bless us with the ability to understand each other."
That was kind of amazing and...
"... Impossible," she whispered aloud.
He once again shrugged. "That's what they told us."
No, really. That was impossible for only one person to accomplish. Even a dozen mages would have some difficulty, and that was considering she took into account the size of these two continents. If it was her own world, even a hundred wouldn't be enough.
She sighed and proceed to give him a light tap on his head. "Don't be so disinterested, kid. A mage is curious by nature, so you got to start questioning everything around you. Now, try to dry that leaf."
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