"I want you to repeat this movement 1000 times, Joaquín told me that you are a smart boy, I suppose you know how to count up to a thousand, right?" Julia tells me while she makes a cutting motion from above.
"Yes, but… what good is that going to do me?" I say without understanding, while imitating the movement.
"It is for your body to memorize the basic movements, what you lack is not strength but technique and that is why you will only focus on the movements. Once you know how to move your sword properly we can start practicing" she says while rectifying my posture "While You practice I am going to teach you tactics and combat strategies, the advice that I am going to give you can be useful in any style of combat."
I keep doing the reps while Julia corrects my mistakes from time to time. When I'm about halfway through the repetitions of the sixth movement, Julia goes upstairs and leave me to continue alone. I guess I'm doing it fine since she doesn't tell me anything.
When I'm done with the repetitions, I see her come back with a tray of sandwiches and a pitcher of water.
"Eat when you're done, I have things to do upstairs. You've been practicing for a long time without taking or eating anything... I honestly thought you'd get tired after the second or third set of reps. Ragnar must be coming back by now, you better relax a bit before trying to learn magic, it is a complicated subject and I would prefer that you do not set fire to the house while practicing" says Julia jokingly and leaving the tray on a step. She starts up the stairs, but the mention of the fire reminds me of my parents and it must be reflected on my face because Julia apologizes when she sees my reaction to her joke.
I hadn't noticed how hungry I was while practicing. I rush to finish the reps and pounce on the sandwiches. When I'm finishing eating I hear Ragnar coming down the stairs.
"Good afternoon, I heard that you were practicing non-stop all day... Maybe you are demanding too much to your body for the first day, I hope you can keep up and don't move like an arthritic old man tomorrow. " he says while laughing at his comparison.
"I'm not tired, it was just repeating movements... Are you going to teach me to use magic now?" I say as I finish the last sandwich.
"Yeah... it's not good to be so impatient for something, it's just advice." He says sitting next to me "magic is a matter of mentality, you need to focus on what you want and visualize it as best as you can, if you have magical abilities it should be enough with that... The truth is that I never studied magic, which I learned it on my own and… that is the way I do magic "he says as he grabs the wooden sword at my side and sets it on fire like it happened to me in my duel with Victor" do not be afraid to burn yourself with your own flames, if you visualize correctly what you want you will not have problems. Do you see how the flames envelop the blade of the sword without burning it? "Ragnar asks, bringing the flaming sword closer to me.
"Yes... only that is needed?" I ask in disbelief.
"It's as easy as that... just think carefully about what you want to do before trying, since once a spell is cast it consumes your magic energy, also called mana, until it is done. If you do not have enough mana the spell will fail and leave you dizzy at best and at worst you will end up unconscious for several days. " he warns me, his face a is mask of seriousness.
"But if it's that easy... Shouldn't everyone be able to use magic?" I ask, not understanding. If it is so easy to use magic, why had I never seen magic until yesterday? There is something I am missing.
"Well... It's easy if you have the necessary abilities and affinity. Most people have some magical affinity, sometimes even more than one. Affinities make magic easy to use, but magic requires mana and most people have very little. It takes many years of training and learning to be able to use magic... In your case magic arose instinctively in an emotional moment because you must have a lot of mana, in addition to an affinity with fire magic, but it is not like that for most of people, it is like what happens with your abnormal physical capacities" he says with an expression that seems a mixture of boredom and annoyance.
Those must be the affinities that appear in the interface... But if I have a greater affinity with spirit magic, why did fire magic emerge first? "And these affinities, how many types are there? Can they be acquired in any way?"
"I don't know how many types there are and I don't know if they can be acquired or learned in any way... As I told you before, I never studied magic, I only discovered that I have an affinity with fire when I went to the labyrinth, and from then on it was all a matter of practice. And speaking of practice, what if you stop asking so many questions and try to do what I just showed you? "he says, handing me the sword.
I focus on the mental image of the sword surrounded by flames and the wish for it to happen again… but nothing happens.
"It doesn't work, I'm trying, but nothing happens." I say while trying to convey my intention to the sword.
"Focus on what you just saw, on how the flames surrounded the sword, on the heat that the fire gives off, its color. Try to make your mental image as detailed as possible" he says with a frown.
I think of the fire, the heat, its color, its undulating movement around the blade of the sword in my hand and I wish with all the will that I can muster that my mental image would be... but nothing happens. Frustrated, I tighten my grip on the hilt more and more until finally the blade of the sword is engulfed in flames and I see two messages appear in my vision
"Okay, now turn it off. The idea is the same, but if you see that it doesn't work just open your hand and drop the sword, because if you don't you will run out of mana and pass out" says Ragnar hastily.
Scared as I see how my mana begins to decrease rapidly, I focus with all my strength on turning off the sword and I see the fire go off. Ragnar sighs and says "sorry, I should have warned you before you made it"
"Okay, no problem... thanks for teaching me" I say yawning as I notice how the fatigue of the day added to the lack of mana begins to show.
"You're welcome, but you don't need to thank me… after all, I'm doing just what Joaquín asked me to do. I owe him a lot, the least I can do is listen to him when he asks me for a favor... but speaking of Joaquín, here is a bag with things that he sends you. Some money and his son's equipment... he told me that he had already told you about that. I took something from the money in the bag to buy you an enchanted necklace that changes the color of the hair and eyes of the person who wears it. I think it is better that you change your appearance a little when you leave this house since those people want to see you dead" he says passing me a leather bag that he takes out of nowhere.
"Yes, thanks" I say, yawning again "this bag is not very big, is everything in here?"
"Yes, it is an enchanted bag, it can store up to 30 objects regardless of size, you just have to think about what you want to take out when you put your hand and you will find it in the bag. But leaving that aside, I'm surprised to see that you didn't say anything when I pulled the bag out of nowhere. Had you seen the 'magic inventory' skill before? "
"No, but until yesterday I didn't know anything about magic, I suppose it's normal that I don't know a lot of things..." I say distracted, I am not very impressed for the inventory skill since I can do it due to the interface.
"It is an ability that is sometimes obtained when the labyrinth is frequented, it works like that enchanted bag, with the exception that the bags have a fixed limit of objects, but the ability allows to store many similar objects in the same 'space', for that reason it is very useful for transporting things. For this ability, adventurers are hired to transport objects, since those with a high level of this ability can carry loads that require a carriage to transport them. But going back to the bag, you must be on the good side of Joaquín, it's rare to see him doing so many things for a stranger... You should go to bed and get some rest, you look quite exhausted "says Ragnar looking at my face with a frown.
I agree with him and go up to my room, but before going to bed I look at the new class and skill I have acquired. The description of the class says [Improves the user's mana regeneration and statistics related to the use of magic] and that of the skill says [Imbue a weapon with fire adding magic damage to it. Mana cost: 18 per second (the cost will decrease with increasing skill level)].
I add the new class to [Accelerated Balanced Growth] and go to bed. I fall asleep as soon as my head touches the pillow because of my tiredness.