A couple weeks passed. Zanoba had a basic understanding of the Dragon-God language and Cliff at this point had mastered it. Sylphy has already begun to understand the concepts behind [Disturb Magic]. At this point she can already disturb lower level spells ranked intermediate or below when they are cast by your average magician.
Nanahoshi had started bugging me about when I was going to start helping her with her study on how to find a way back home so I started spending time working with her during the school day. I was definitely starting to notice I don't have as much free time as I used to as I saw my weekly schedule gradually filling in, so I told Nanahoshi that I could only work with her two times a week for a couple hours at a time.
Nanahoshi definitely wasn't content with that but I told her that was all the time I could manage and that I wasn't budging on the matter. She spent most of her time continuing her study on her own accord when I wasn't around.
I started off by giving her a head start considering the extensive progress she had made when I previously knew her. Unfortunately, I could not redraw her complex magic circles from my memory in their entirety, but I was at least able to guide her with concepts to follow and roadblocks to avoid so she had a good starting point.
One day, I was sitting beside Sylphy on our couch helping her practice her [Disturb Magic]. Sylphy had her eyes laser focused on the [Water Ball] I held in my left hand while both her hands were held above the quivering spell trying to disturb it.
Meanwhile I was also focusing on the figurine of Leo I was trying to make in my right hand. While it's definitely true that I love every second of time that I get to spend with Sylphy, I can't help but admit that sitting there maintaining a spell for hours on end was getting a little boring.
That's why I came up with the idea of working on my figurines simultaneously. This made the exercise actually challenging for me as well. When I was able to put all my focus into maintaining the [Water Ball], Sylphy had absolutely no chance to cancel it. Now that I'm splitting my focus into making finely detailed figurines at the same time, Sylphiette was actually managing to succeed every now and then.
This new method of practice is actually helping me improve the control I have over my mana even further while Sylphy also improves at the same time. The exercise has almost turned into a competition between the two of us. I'm trying to see how long I can maintain my spell while Sylphy is trying to beat her quickest time of canceling it.
Today I was working on a figurine of Leo that Aisha had requested. Aisha was sitting on the couch beside me on my right hand side watching me work on the figurine attentively.
"Your figurines are amazing, Rudeus. I really wish I could do cool stuff like that..."
"I'm sure you could if you put your mind to it."
"Do you really think so?"
"Sure. Why not? You've always been pretty talented at everything you do. Making these figurines is harder than it looks, but if you work hard at it there's no reason you couldn't do the same."
"Cool! I want to learn! Can you start teaching me right away?"
"Right now? Well, I suppose I-"
*Splash*
I lost control over the [Water Ball] causing it to lose shape and the water splashing down on the floor between Sylphy and I.
"Geez! Pay attention Rudy! You're not focused at all today!"
Sylphy scolded me as she used the [Heat Hand] to dry the water that had gotten on the couch and floor.
"Right, sorry. I did get a little distracted there, but to be fair it's getting much harder for me even when I am focused. You're really starting to get the hang of [Disturb Magic]."
"Until I can cancel your spells as easily as you did my own I can't say that I've mastered this."
'That's a loftier goal than you realize. I have decades of experience under my belt', I thought.
"Why don't we take a short break? We've been sitting here for too long. I need to get up and move around a bit."
"Yeah, that's a good idea. I think I'm getting a little agitated from sitting here for so long too."
I set the mostly finished figurine of Leo on the table and then stood up and stretched my arms above my head.
"Do you really want to start learning magic, Aisha?", I said as I turned to face her. "I don't mind teaching you, but this isn't something you'll pick up in a day or two. It's going to be a long process and take lots of work on your part."
"Yes! Let's do it!", Aisha said with confidence.
"Alright. In that case, let's get you started right away."
I wrote down the incantation for the [Rock Bullet] and handed it to Aisha. She promptly reached her hand out and started reading it.
"Woah, Woah, Woah! Hold on there!", I said as I pulled her hand down and interrupted the incantation. "First rule of magic training: No magic in the house."
"But you and Sylphiette are always practicing in the house", Aisha said as she puffed her cheeks out and pouted.
"That's different. Sylphiette and I are masters and we know what we're doing."
"I don't want to be standing out in the cold all day to make my toys!", Aisha continued to complain.
"First of all, these aren't toys. They're figurines! Second, by the time you're ready to start making your own you'll be proficient enough that it will be safe to practice inside."
"Figurines? That's the same thing...", Aisha muttered under breath in annoyance.
'I'll pretend I didn't hear that', I thought.
I should mention that Aisha isn't so overly respectful towards me like she used to be. Unlike how she was before, Aisha doesn't seem so eager to become my maid. Lilia is still pushing her to do it, but I keep telling Lilia it isn't necessary and Aisha seems like she's a little resentful towards Lilia for it. If I had to guess, it's probably because Lilia and Aisha never got captured in Shirone this time around. Personally, I think it's a good change. I always felt bad that Aisha was so dead set on becoming my maid. She deserves to chase her own dreams just like everyone else.
Aisha followed me outside and I had her take aim at a tree in our front yard. She read out the incantation for [Rock Bullet]. Sure enough, a bullet sized rock formed at the tip of her finger and shot forward. The [Rock Bullet] zipped right past the tree and traveled across the street, striking the house on the opposite side and breaking a glass window.
*Slap*
I face-palmed.
"Uh...", Aisha awkwardly took a couple steps backwards. She knew she was in trouble.
"No... Don't worry about it", I sighed. "This is my fault; I should have known better. We shouldn't be doing this in a residential area.
The woman who lived in the house across from us opened her front door and started hurling shouts our way.
"Go on inside Aisha. Don't worry, I'll take care of this."
I apologized to our neighbor profusely and handed her some money to pay for the repairs as well as a little extra for the trouble we caused. That seemed to calm her down and smooth things over. Having wealth to throw around sure makes life easier.
I was worried that bad experience might put Aisha off from learning magic, but it turns out she was still as enthusiastic as ever. I decided to bring her with me as a guest to the school tomorrow and I started working with her in one of the beginner training areas.
"Pay attention to the flow of mana through your body as you cast the spell", I told her. "Remember how it feels."
Aisha read out the incantation once again and the [Rock Bullet] struck a target about sixty feet away.
"At the very least your aim is improving", I said with a laugh.
Aisha could cast the [Rock Bullet] spell about ten times before she ran low on mana and became exhausted. At first she was depressed about her pitifully small mana pool, but I assured her that her mana pool would increase the more she practiced. Each subsequent day she could cast the spell a couple more times.
Once she built up enough reserves to get some decent practice in, I had her work on trying to cast the spell without reading the incantation.
"Remember how it felt when you cast the spell. Focus on that feeling and draw your mana out through your hand."
As talented as Aisha was, she didn't catch on to this as quickly as Sylphy had. It took her about a month before she finally conjured a clump of earth with no incantation. The clump crumbled after mere moments and didn't shoot off like the [Rock Bullets], but she had done it nonetheless.
After she conjured that clump of earth, her progress sped up quickly. After another week, she had improved to the point that she could safely practice in her room at home instead of having to come to the school. Granted Lilia was getting irritated by bits of dust and dirt that recently began to frequently litter our floors.
"Rudeus! Look!", Aisha yelled out excitedly.
She conjured a baseball sized clump of earth above her hand and then focused as hard as she could at it. As Aisha squinted her eyes and gritted her teeth, the ball of earth slowly began to change form until five distinct 'Limbs' formed from it.
The clump of earth in no way looked like a person. It was more like a ball of clay that a preschooler had tried to shape by hand into a doll, but it was easy to see Aisha was proud of it. Her face was beaming.
"I did it!", she yelled out. "I'm doing it! I can really do it!"
"That's amazing!", I yelled. "I can't believe how quickly you're improving!"
"I know! Now I just need to keep practicing until I can make them look like yours."
"Keep it up", I said. "At this rate you'll get there in no time."
As I excitedly praised Aisha, Norn watched us with a bitter look on her face from the other room as she formed her hands in front of her into a cupped shape and struggled to mimic Aisha's motions fruitlessly.