The day after they cleaned themselves went peacefully. Alula woke up first and used that time to practice the seven mudras (gestures) in order to restore her body to its previous condition. She realized by doing this that she was no longer an Elemental, but a simple water mage and that meant she had to train herself from the beginning, too. Though it would be easier as she knew all the shortcuts she could do and her control was better.
She inspected her core capacity which was larger than in her previous life thanks to mixing with the one belonging to Astra. Her seven cores were forcibly activated when she opened her Third Eye, which meant her core was already half done to being one with her soul. She just needed to concentrate on that, but only do so sparingly or it will damage her if she forces it. For her magic to then being one with her flesh, she needed to circulate it around her body, so that was slightly easier. Finally, thanks to her Third Eye open, it would be a piece of cake to connect her mind to the world around her.
However, first, she needed to focus on her soul. On mixing it with her soul. A thing that was comparable to mix water and oil.
After one hour of practicing, she woke up Amycus and they both had breakfast made from the leftover food from those slaver-traders, which was almost over by now. Then they meditated for an hour in which she spent teaching the gestures of the seven mudras to open one's cores as they walked. Or internal points as it was known here.
There were a couple of ways to teach magic in her world, but they all agreed about the seven chakra points or Gates. They were more or less different from each other because every country had its own culture and ways of doing things. She used the hand signs used in Buddhism because that was how it was taught to her. One reason was that she didn't talk those first weeks with Old Ma and the other was because to Old Ma it was the most complete even if it was slightly harder to learn. She thought it was the best and that was why she decided to teach Amycus that way.
Not that she was biased because she was taught like that, no.
"So, how did they teach you in the Army?" At seeing his mood sour, she added, "It will help me know what they do wrong so I can try to avoid that method."
It took him a while to analyze her words. When he did, he nodded. "First, they put us inside a room where we were supposed to stay for half an hour. They told us it was saturated with magic and to meditate inside it and try to feel the energy inside."
She raised a dubious eyebrow. "Did they at least teach you how to meditate?"
"Yes, they spent three weeks teaching us how to meditate before we went inside that room. I found it hard at first and sometimes I even fell asleep," he said while shrugging sheepishly.
"How long do you meditated?"
"One hour a day." At her incredulous expression, he added hastily, defending the Army. "We had other courses, too. Like how to handle a sword and bow. We did exercise most of the time, too."
"Okay, okay. Calm down. I was just surprised, that's all," she said, her lips twitching. "Okay, now continue."
He squinted at her for a couple of seconds but relented and continued. "Well, we were supposed to feel the magic around us and connect to it, but..."
"...You weren't able to, right" Seeing his head dipping down, she sighed. "Well, considering you were working on enhancement, I'm not surprised."
He blinked at her, eyebrows knitted. "What do you mean?"
"Your magic. There are actually two types of it. The first, and most common, is the proactive magic. It is aggressive and combative and needs a direct approach to call it. While yours is passive. I sensed it before when I helped you feel it."
"...Passive," he murmured under his breath, before looking at her. "What does it mean?"
"It means that is reactive and serves more for defense. Though it does not mean without practice you can't be as aggressive as proactive magic, just that you need a subtle approach to awaken it. Like how I did."
"T-They told us we didn't have magic."
Oh boy. His eyes were starting to water, but he still remained a stoic expression. Though it looked more like he was pouting than anything else.
"You said 'us', who are you talking about?"
"There were other three kids that couldn't do it either. We didn't feel anything while inside the room, so they told us we didn't have the aptitude to do magic and to return to our homes." He sighed. "My housing was covered by the army so when I returned to my town I didn't have a home there."
She was confused now. "What do you mean? Did you sell your house before going to the army?"
He shook his head, now frowning. "My uncle was in charge of the house. He sold it to cover the debt I owed to the healer for the medicine my dad used to take."
"And I guess he didn't ask for your permission...?"
"No. I was going to receive money from the Army from the second year onwards, so I asked the healer to excuse me for this year." He sighed harshly, his fists clenching. "My aunt told me they sold the house to pay the healer, but they didn't give me the rest. Instead, they..."
She wanted to hug him but considering his expression, she was afraid she would hurt his pride. In the end, she decided on a compromise. She grabbed his shoulder in silent comfort. "They sold you?"
He nodded. "They told me the money wasn't enough to pay my debts, so they sold me."
"You fought back, right? Your injuries tell me so."
Shrugging, he touched one bruise on his collarbone. "Most of these were done after I was told to return home, from the Army."
"The Army did this?!"
"No, no! It was done by a couple of guys that I always had problems with."
"And they didn't do anything to punish them, I guess?" she said with a raised eyebrow. At his dropped shoulders and inability to look her in the eye, she was right.
She sighed. "Oh well. It doesn't matter, okay? Let's continue doing the mudras."
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