Rosalinda and Rainer, we trudging toward the healer's office. Rainer's injuries mainly were some bruising and sore muscles, but due to the cause of the injury. However, Hezar was insistent on him seeing a healer. Mana bodies specialized in dealing with explosive internal injuries with the side effect of mana burn. Mana burn prevented proper healing until the foreign mana was expunged.
The walk was silent and awkward. Rainer was coming to terms with the fact that not only did he lose to a girl, but he lost spectacularly.
'I can't believe I lost so miserable. I mean, I never intended to fight seriously. If it weren't for magic, I would have died. Hitting a woman in my last life was taboo, but I am not on earth anymore.'
Rosalinda mistook Rainer's silence for shock; his face pale from the brush with death. Then, thinking his injury was more severe than the instructor had believed, she started rushing, almost dragging Rainer. Rainer voiced out.
"Why are you dragging me? I am not that hurt but keep this up, and we will have to see."
Rosalinda paused, and her cheeks turned red. She had already felt bad for injuring him in the first place. Being accused of being too rough just brought those feeling back to the surface. With that, the question that had popped into her head right after Hezar said Rainer was fine.
"How are your injuries so light? I hit you with my mana body. Common sense says you should be in critical condition, let alone walking. What are you made of?"
Rainer understood her confusion; being able to sense mana before school was already enough to consider someone as top class. Knowing how to use that mana control to power a mana body made her a genius. Magic was even more challenging than that. If she was a genius, then he was unparalleled. Rainer glanced over the question.
"So what you did was called a mana body. It caught me off guard, and it might have even killed me. How does it work?"
Rosalinda was about to answer the question.
"Well, it works by... HEY, don't dodge the question, how are you even alive? Without being able to use mana body as well, that blow should have punched a hole right through you."
Although that wasn't entirely accurate, the image was enough to go a few shades lighter. Had Rainer never practiced with mana before, that might have severely injured him, but as someone used mana, it would naturally reinforce their bodies. Rainer gulped.
"I blocked it with Ice."
Rosalinda was even more confused.
'What do you mean you blocked with ice? That doesn't even make sense. How could ice block that?'
"What?"
Rainer knew that his talent for magic would be ahead of other students, and he didn't originally intend to show it off, but it was too late. Nevertheless, he was confident that Hezar had seen the shield. So, deciding to come clean, he gathered his mana.
"Water solidify into ice and shield my body."
Well, mostly, making it seem like he still had to use lengthy incantations. Then, a small buckler shield formed from ice and floated in the air. Rosalinda's jaw dropped so fast it almost hit the floor.
"YOU'RE A MAGE? How is that even possible? We are barely old enough to understand sense mana. I thought I was talented because I could use mana body. What a joke?"
Rainer didn't know what a mana body was, so he was confused. He sure thought that what she did was impressive.
"I don't think it's a joke. Hell underestimating you could have been the last mistake I ever made. I don't even know what a mana body is."
A mana body was much more common than magic. It required only understanding oneself and how to make the mana flow through you—enhancing a user's overall physical prowess and destructive techniques. Rosalinda, a bit flabbergasted, played down her achievement.
"A mana body isn't that big of a deal. For most adults, it's a part of everyday life; even farmers use it to till the fields. It's only impressive because of my age and martial arts. Magic though is uncommon, maybe only one in ten can use it, one in a thousand can use it in a fight, and at your age, one in a million."
Rainer realized just then how much he had displayed. At first, he was a little worried, but as the saying goes, 'don't cry over spilled milk.' He decided to apologize for underestimating her because she was a woman.
"I am sorry for what I said during the fight about not wanting to fight you because you were a girl. I didn't think it would be a fair fight. I mean, I outweigh you by like fifty pounds, and I am faster. At least without your mana body, but consider my eyes opened because you were right. It won't matter if I am a corpse. If I made that mistake in a real fight, I would be treating more than a bruise."
Rosalinda was touched. They continued to talk until they made it to the healer.