[Wizarding Trials to begin in a few weeks!! The Academy Teachers have arrived!!]
Crusch read a front cover newspaper that her teacher, Mr Redfield, held to his face in what was quit the intense reading session.
"How unfortunate…" She heard him say, her expression turning grim.
"Does…does this mean we'll have to..bump up my training?" Crusch asked.
It had been another week since her prior sparring session with her instructor, Crusch had come to learn the basics of close quarters combat and how to use her wand more effectively in a manner that both assisted her in close combat and ranged fighting.
Augmenting spells were quite a common feature in close quarters and occasionally was Crusch made aware of her ineptitude in actual battle, analysing and preemptively taking action to counter attack affectively and In the right time was hard to do, far much harder than the stories and books in her past life made it seem. Not to mention was her inexperience in fighting in general, Redfield had chided her on multiple occasions that her fist's lacked any power behind them; even with augmentation!! Yet how could she avoid that?
Her life wasn't so riddled in violence that she needed to use it to get a point across, or was it that she herself was too meek to approve of such a rash approach to things? Either way, it came as no surprise to her that she was lacking in the field of violence that she took the remarks to improve, something that had garnered a lot of Redfields respect.
"It's refreshing to see a student that puts less of their emotions when being chided and more logical thinking to witness how to improve" Were his words of praise at one point.
Her fighting improved through Redfields draining schedules, enough that she was more than capable of fending for herself and using her augmentation and close quarter spells for more effective combinations.
"Oh no, remember that your qualifications only apply for the basics, attuned spells are not to be tampered nor dabbled upon without supervision" He answered while flipping over a page, "You're well within qualifications, all that's left is honing your skills till you are most certainly ready for the horrors of the preliminary trials"
Crusch unconsciously shivered having heard the foreboding imagery laid out to her for the one and a half months now, the excitement had long been overtaken by a sense of dread she knew naught how to suppress. Currently were the two outside, in the forest of naked trees where two boulders kept their bodies from the cold snow beneath.
"Do you…perhaps have any tips?" Crusch asked, her teacher's brows raising over the edge of the newspaper.
"It's impossible that what I'll give you will be of any help once we leave for the preliminary trials" He coolly answered, disappointing her although having already been aware that the trials changed annually, last year's may have faced some sort of survival situation, the year before that could've been a dual and so on.
"Though, I wouldn't want my own student making the silliest mistake known to man in her first few minutes" He lowered the newspaper enough that his eyes met with hers, "For your own good, treat no one there as a friend"
Crusch's brow's furrowed but she nodded vigorously, it was a competition. Witches and Wizards weren't fighting to pass a test alone but to gain the appreciation of an institution, an academy. Crusch had slowly been made aware of the various Magical academy's that existed within the country, a total of twelve.
There was the Dargon Academy of charms specialist's, the Narnican Institute of fire elementals and the others. Each academy had a set standard of qualifications to join their ranks, most of which was unknown to the general populous, much to some people's annoyance. With all that in mind and one could vividly imagine what kind of scenario's took place during the trials, betrayal, double crossing's and more betrayal. In a competition where your friend could quite easily turn into a competitor vying for the same seat as yourself and there was no reason to have any at all. Her eyes fluttered over the newspaper once more then back to where she sat, reminding herself why she was her.
"You said I should try envisioning a pond, right?" She glanced at Redfield who placed the newspaper down and nodded.
"Pond, lake, an infinite chasm of murky depths, your mana pool can take many forms but an easy and comprehensible envisioning allows you to very easily connect with it" Crusch nodded.
This was a bonus lesson, originally was it planned not to go overboard, the trials were meant to be fair; ignoring ethnical or financial background. That meant relegating basic magic only, as many wouldn't be able to find a teacher…affordable enough to teach them magic of their respective affinities. Growing and replenishing her mana reserves also wasn't exactly on the requirements for the trials but it wasn't breaking the rules, at least that was what Redfield had told her.
"To connect…" Crusch muttered under her breath, slowly shutting away her vision as she tried to imagine a pond of perhaps the same color as her affinity.
There was only darkness ahead of her however, only the emptiness and the soft winds that buffeted her ears, distracting her almost. How was she supposed to do this?
Redfield had intentionally left some details she thought, perhaps testing her ability to figure things out on her own while feeling her way through the dark with nothing more than a small flame of understanding that did nothing but illuminate just how lost she was. If the idea of envisioning was to connect to the world in between, her astral self then was it really as simple as envisioning what her mana pool would look like? Far too simple a task for something that sounded so complicated…
Yet perhaps was simplicity the real challenge? Accepting that something sounding so difficult was that easy, that she wasn't given a small flame but a star that illuminated everything inside yet the vagueness and way in which it was told to her made her doubt its sincerity? Or was envisioning a pond simply that hard for a lot of Wizards and Witches in this world? That seemed highly unlikely, they all seemed highly unlikely.
A mana pool…she thought, tried envisioning the pool and did so successfully in her mind but there wasn't much of a thought in change; there wasn't the feeling that puzzle pieces had locked together or something inside her clicked or the feeling that she was tethered to something far away…nothing…
She frowned, A mana pool was the hearth stone of a Wizard and Witch, where their abilities came from, how much power they could exert and so on and so forth. It was called a pool but wasn't actually so, perhaps more accurately to describe it yet still quite vague was that it was the quantity of mana of which a mage could use. This didn't mean that one's mana pool could be envisioned as simply a pond or pool, just that it was the most simplistic and easy to comprehend. Yet as Crusch was soon understanding about magic in this world was that it's uses varied and other had more effective ways with it, like animals perhaps.
'Animals…Abssynia and Beryl!!' She thought, sending a mental message for the two's assistance.
"We can't help…per say…" the two answered, disappointing her quite a bit, "The reasoning is once more that our techniques vary from you, perhaps too much…"
'It can't be so absurd, how did you guys grow your mana pools?' Crusch asked and the two seemed to reluctant to answer but did so anyway.
"Devouring beast core's"
Instantly was Crusch reeled back to square one as Beryl and Abssynia left her to her devices, a little disappointed that they weren't of much help except for further diverging the paths of beasts from humans. She thought more on the subject, finding what she was missing so close yet so hard to find, perhaps having been walking circles around it the whole time.
A mana pool
A mana pool…
She envisioned again but this time not in the same way as before but as one of the flames in her affinity, the purple color and its shape; a burning fireball. Soon enough was that ball a star, why? She felt using her affinity, the mana she used in her day to day spells might give her an understanding. Last time had she also been told to envision, envision how mana—
It clicked! The missing connection was that she hadn't included how the mana felt through her body, the warmth and the memories that invoked it. Creating the connection was by using the nature in which she used her mana, when she included it did Crusch feel the star she envisioned burn brighter then there was a sensation of warmth and Crusch found herself opening her eyes groggily to…a vast landscape! A grassy plane stretching on for miles under a nightly sky, splattered with the stars and galaxies above.
"This…" She looked on in wonder, then realized she wasn't alone, there was something in front of her, a wavering figure of purple flaming light. A slight feeling of fear overcame her, this world's most dazzling beauties weren't with some unsettling horrors and she didn't like being so enamored anymore; not when the last time had her staring into the mouth of some beast, friendly or not.
She was hesitant but there was a Beck and call that told her to move forward, reluctantly prompting her to do so. When she was within a meter of it did suddenly move, the figure of burning amethyst which Crusch now discerned to be a woman of long hair and stature similar to her own held out its hand. She wasn't so adamant to take it, a lot about this felt a bit weird, she'd already had the inkling that it was her astral projection but caution was a good thing to have yet she slowly took it anyway. Her hand's locked with the figures and Crusch could feel that same warmth in her, the kind that assailed her each time she used her mana yet it slowly swarmed to coagulate at her heart and a flame was lit there; the same flame the figure was made of. Through this was Crusch able to feel something click in her again, not that she'd understood something but a tether, a connection between herself and the figure in front of her that her mouth parted to speak,
Ludmilla?
Everything went dark once more and Crusch opened her eyes again to find Redfield smiling at her proudly.
"Congratulations, you have successfully realized your mana pool" He said, a smile so wide that she wondered who was more proud of her achievements, her teacher or herself?
She smiled back and nodded, noting the warm sensation still stayed by her heart which her hand unconsciously came to press against, a gesture her teacher noticed.
"Ah, so that's where you decided to keep it" He said knowingly.
"Keep…it?" Crusch asked in a little confusion as Redfield explained.
"The tether I mean, what connects yourself to your astral projection and mana pool" He spoke, "It can be kept at various parts of our bodies, the stomach, the mind, the chest and sometimes…well…the heart"
"Is there anything wrong with keeping it there?" She asked, noticing that her teacher trailed off a bit before listing the heart.
"Not at all, just a rare one" he chuckled, "Using your heart, it's quite an emotional use of mana"
"Emotional?"
"Yes, some believe that what you use to tether yourself to your astral projection is also a showcase of how one chooses to use their mana" He sighed, seemingly amused, "The heart signifies an emotional and deep seeded desire for something that only mana could ever grant you, is there something you wish to accomplish as a Witch Ludmilla?"
Crusch was caught a little surprised by the question but thought for a bit and shook her head as Redfield shrugged, "It's those romantic philosophers that have been growing over the years that thought this up, didn't think it was true myself"
Crusch nodded absentmindedly but couldn't help but reminisce on what she saw, her astral projection…Ludmilla's, how beautiful…
"In any case, we can move forward to the next step, growing and purifying the mana pool you've just connected with"
Coming back to her senses did she ask, a little flabbergasted they were moving so fast, "how do we do that?"
"Simple, this time I won't throw you into the dark" he said, "You're an odd one so I'm guessing you didn't even envision your pool as a pool, what was it?"
Crusch didn't answer for a bit as she thought whether to indulge this information since she a little embarrassed that the form she'd taken her pool to take didn't sound so convenient the more she thought about it but said it either way.
"A…star…" She answered, the last part trailing off.
"Don't look so distraught, the process of growing your pool—star is still the same" Redfield chuckled, "Star's hold Solar systems in place, correct?"
Crusch nodded.
"Our own was formed through the coagulation of gases through intense pressure and gravity"
She nodded again, albeit a little less vigorous since this wasn't exactly her area of expertise, at least not the Crusch side of her.
"Then imagine it so, feel that star again, feel the residual mana—envision them as those gases and pull them closer"
Crusch did so, envisioning and feeling the warmth, searching for the residual mana inhabiting all around the star she'd created as her mana pool and pulled it closer as she could feel a burning sensation overcome her.
"That's it!" Redfield exclaimed, Crusch's body sparking in small flames of Amethyst that disappeared and reappeared at random.
"Keep doing so till you can't handle it any longer"
At first the burning was pleasant, like sitting across from a fireplace in winter but as she continued the process did it become more intense, did an ember from the fireplace catch the house ablaze and caught her inside; it became painful. She felt as though her skin was being incinerated layer by layer, slow and methodical enough that her nerves weren't burned away before the pain truly engulfed her.
The sparks became parts of her body engulfed in flames then an inferno that set her body ablaze and Crusch couldn't hold the screams any longer, the pain was indescribable. If she had the lungs to scream any higher than she already was, she would but even that became painful.
The star burned brighter and larger, an inferno of amethyst light encircling her that swayed nearly as high as the trees around them then she felt a part of her, not being able to handle the pain any longer snap but before that was there an expulsion of the flames around her and the pain subsided.
For a long while did she simply sit there, bordering between what she felt was consciousness and unconscious which lasted a few more minutes till she fully regained her senses and healed from the painful experience.
"A job well done, I'm once again impressed" Redfield spoke, reeling her more into reality.
"Right, thanks…" She tried to sit up straight but found the strength fleeting before sliding off the rock she'd been seated on and landing face first into the snow as Redfield laughed before coming down to help her up.
"This is so taxing, how do you people do this regularly!?" Redfield chuckled even more.
"Far from regularly, occasionally to attain breakthroughs in strength but it gets harder as you continue" He smiled at her.
"Somehow I feel as though I won't be doing this very much…"
Redfield laughed as Crusch felt her strength slowly returning.