"I'm Roxy Migurdia. Pleased to meet you." There was an awkward silence for a while, until Roxy turned her head to look away, somewhat embarrassed. "Oh, are you the home tutor?" Zenith finally asked. "Aren't you a little, um…." Paul murmured. "She's pretty!" I interrupted. I could feel the pride radiating off of Paul.
Roxy blushed and averted her gaze. "So, um, where is the student I'll be teaching?"
"Oh, that would be our boy right here", Zenith replied, bouncing me in her arms slightly. I gave Roxy a big smile.
Roxy sighed audibly. "Ugh.. this happens sometimes", she muttered. "Kids show signs that they're growing up a bit fast and the parents get it in their heads that he's some special genius."
"You say something?", Paul asked sternly.
"Oh, it's nothing. I'm just not sure a boy so young would be able to understand the complex theories of magic."
"Don't you worry", Zenith replied. "Our little Rudy here is a genius!"
Roxy sighed once more. "Well, I suppose I'll just have to do what I can in that case".
Roxy took me into the yard to start our first lesson immediately. "Let's start by seeing how much magic you can use", she said. "First, I'll demonstrate."
"Let the great protection of water be on the place thou seekest. I call a refreshing burbling stream here and now. Water ball." Roxy fired a basketball sized water ball at one of the trees Zenith had been cultivating in our yard, snapping it half and drenching the fence behind it. "Well? What do you think?" she asked.
"I think my mom is going to be upset. She spent a lot of time caring for that tree."
Roxy panicked, running over to the snapped tree and reattaching it to the stump with an elementary level healing spell.
"That's amazing!", I complimented.
"It was nothing. Anyone could manage this much with a bit of training." Roxy tried to play it off like it was nothing, but I could see her trying to hide her smile.
"Alright, Rudy. Now you give it a try."
"Sure thing!" I stepped beside her and outstretched my hand. I fired off a water ball into the air above the tree, copying the size and speed of the one Roxy had just used.
Roxy's eyes went wide with disbelief. "You… skipped the incantation."
"Is that bad? I thought the incantations were just there to teach you the spell?"
Still looking utterly shocked, Roxy replied, "No… that's fine." "Looks like this boy will be worth training after all", she muttered under her breath.
"Ok, let's move on to the next spell", Roxy said excitedly.
Roxy had me cast each elementary spell of each school of attack magic. Zenith brought us a tray of beverages so we sat at the table and took a break.
"How are you feeling, Rudeus? You're not getting tired are you?", Roxy asked.
"No, I'm fine. Those were all just basic elementary spells, after all."
Roxy seemed to choke on her drink a little. "So you've already learned intermediate spells then?"
"Well… I tried the spell water cannon once and accidently blew a hole through our wall", I said as I glanced back over towards the house.
"Yes, you definitely should not be practicing your magic indoors", Roxy said with a laugh.
"Well, it's clear to me that you've already mastered all of the elementary spells. Let's take some time to go over the basics of magic theory just to make sure you haven't missed anything since you are self taught."
With that, Roxy took out a small book that she used as a supplementary textbook and started going over the very basic concepts of magic. Some of the concepts were misleading half truths or simply wrong, such as the idea that the magic reserve of most people is locked in place at birth. In actuality, I had discovered that one's magic reserve stopped growing around the age of ten, and would reflect the amount of training you went through before then. I didn't correct her on any of those topics, however, as there was no way to explain how I knew that information.
After lunch, I would train in swordsmanship with Paul; although for now he just had me doing exercises to condition my body, such as running and sit ups. Many people would find this routine to be rather grueling, but honestly I enjoy working out.
Once I finished my training with Paul, I would head back to my room to work on making figurines. I must say I've gotten even better at crafting these than I was back when I was working with Zanoba in Ranoa. I've started incorporating rocks of different colors. I would use earth magic to separate the components of the stone to form different minerals. I used calcium for the whites of the eyes on the figurine and clay for the skin. I could create gemstones by altering the structure of the mineral.
I continued this routine daily for a good six months now. I tried to hold back when working with Roxy. If I just learned everything immediately, I would only end up chasing her away once she felt she had nothing left to teach me. I wanted to enjoy as much time as I could with her.
Likewise, I held back a little at first when working with Paul. It would be weird if I knew all of the stances and moves before he even had a chance to show them to me. Luckily, I didn't have to hold back for too long with him, since I'm naturally just not as gifted with the sword as I'm incapable of forming battle aura.
Every night I would spend some time working on a Roxy figurine. This was my greatest masterpiece; a true work of art. This was similar to the Roxy figurine that Pax had bought and later traded to Zanoba, but the detail and precision are incomparable. The one I'm working on now is an unparalleled masterpiece that even the dwarves could never hope to match. In addition, I've used countless different minerals and have spent a lot of time experimenting with different compositions and structural makeups to get every shade just right.
Tonight I'm doing the final touch ups on her hair. I decided on a duller sapphire color. It's a similar color to her eyes, but not as polished. After getting the shade just right, I spent a lot of time on the texture, making the hair look as lifelike as possible. I plan to give this to her as a parting gift once she leaves for Shirone.
Once Roxy felt I had 'mastered' all of the intermediate spells, she offered me extra classes at night, but I politely declined. Like I said before, I don't intend to rush her out of here, not to mention there's something I need to start working on that I absolutely have to finish before leaving Buena Village, no matter what.