"You're up early this morning Lady Kyra." Madam Serene gave a knowing smile as Kyra ran across the garden to the training area with me in her arms.
It was a bumpy ride but her excitement was contagious due to the nature of this practical magic lesson. I was interested in finding out if it was possible for me to use magic, even if it was only just one branch of it.
Mary followed up behind us, planning to keep an eye on us as we used the volatile nature of mana to perform magic.
"Hello Madam Serene!" Kyra huffed and puffed with a smile on her face, putting me on the ground, "We're ready for our lesson today!"
Kyra was sporting a pair of simple leather pants and a white shirt as her workout clothes today. There was no way the maids would let her do magic in her dresses so like the first time we met, she dressed simply and had her hair tied up in a waterfall braid with the help of the maids.
Kyra probably cared less about her appearance by the way she casually wiped her sweaty hands on her shirt and stepped forward. I chuckled when I saw Mary trying to hold back her words at the little Lady's actions.
"I like the enthusiasm~ Alright then, let get to it shall we?" Madam Serene led us to the edge of the training area again.
"As I'm sure you remember, today we will be learning a new, but very important spell 'Protect' and Rollie here will be joining us today." She looked over to me and I made a 'kwoo' to show my enthusiasm.
Kyra giggled and jumped around in place, clearly impatient to begin 'playing' with magic with her favorite cute Raptor.
"As I mentioned in our last class," the Sorceress continued, "Monsters and Magical Beasts can generally only use one element of magic. For our friend Rollie here, that would more than likely be Earth magic.
"With Earth magic, he can utilize its great defensive capabilities and also its utility functions."
Before she could continue, Kyra interrupted with a tilted head.
"What's ooh-till-it-tea? Did we go over that?" She said a bit louder than a whisper.
"Oh~ Did you forget already?" Madam Serene grinned smugly.
Kyra avoided her gaze but I rolled my eyes. Madam Serene was quite the free spirit and seemed to either have the power or status to be allowed to tease the daughter of the Duke Sivillion. I liked her carefree attitude but I hoped it wouldn't get her, or us, in trouble.
Kyra was sweating, trying to figure out which lesson she somehow slept through before the Sorceress laughed.
"I'm sorry Lady Kyra," she wiped a tear from the corner of her eye, "We haven't gone over the different forms of magic yet. I just couldn't help teasing you when you look so cute!"
Kyra puffed out her cheeks and blushed. Mary also held a gentle hand to her mouth as she laughed at her Lady huffing in protest. After that little fun was over, Madam Serene got back into her teacher mode.
"I'll be brief for now, and we can talk about it more during another lesson, but magic does not conjure in just one form. Each spell could be put into one or multiple categories that help determine the functions of the conjured spell.
"For our lesson today, 'Protect' would be considered a 'Defensive' spell. There are other spell categories like Attack or Obstruction spells, but we will talk about that more later. For Defensive spells like 'Protect' their main functions are to, as the name suggests, protect the Sorcerer or Sorceress from something.
"Since Protect's strength is determined by how it holds up against other attacks, I will be seeing how it holds up once you can conjure the spell. There's no rush if you can't conjure it today, but make sure you keep a good image in your mind of something you think you would be protected with."
I was interested to hear more about these categorized forms of Magic but we'd have to wait it seemed. Thankfully, Madam Serene moved right into the practical demonstration and began to perform the spell for us to see.
"First I swirl my mana like I taught you, then once I've gathered enough, I form a clear picture in my mind of, lets say, a shield, and use my mana to fill in that image." She said as she did just that.
I could feel the mana in the air move around as it swirled in front of her like a vortex. It was much easier seeing how she moved her mana around when she used an actual spell this time. She must have only been using her mana as an extension of her body during the lesson a few days ago, while this spell truly utilized the mana she had to conjure something.
Her mana continued to swirl evenly, even after she gathered enough and began to form her image. I could feel the shape of her mana slow change, taking on the form of a slightly convex surface. I wasn't sure if Kyra could feel this mana or not but when I looked to her, she just leaned forward slightly with interest.
I couldn't really ask her so I just continued to watch Madam Serene closely.
"Once I feel I have a clear picture of what I want my spell to look like, I transfer my mana into that image I've formed. Saying the spell's name will also help with this process. Protect!" She continued and then shouted the spell.
As she did so, the mana rushed wildly to fill in her image of a shield like the mana was flowing into an invisible mold in front of her. My eyes widened as that shield mold, soon became part of the physical world, with bits of rock and dirt appearing out of nowhere to build the shield.
Taking the shape of a simple medieval-style shield, the mana filled it up in the form of dirt clumps until it was finished. Once finished, I could feel the mana around the shield, burst out for a moment as the shield grew denser, even taking on some details of a real shield.
"Wow!" Kyra gawked at the miracle.
Seeing the Waterball from before was a grand sight but when a full-fledged Sorceress performed magic, it really was a spectacle. No offense Kyra, you just suck right now.
After a few moments, the shield began to crumble and turned into a pile of dirt at her feet while she turned to us with a smile.
"Now that you've seen it, why don't you give it a shot? Remember: gather your mana, create a clear image, then fill in that image while saying the spell's name. Alright, show me what you've got! You too Rollie."
Kyra cheered as she stepped up to the edge of the training grounds and I waddled after her. I looked up to Madam Serene, only to find her looking at me as well with a smile. It was kind of a creepy smile but I wasn't really sure what she was doing.
Was she wanting to see me try it out? Shouldn't she be more focused on Kyra who had already started? I couldn't help but realize something vital I forgot as I took on the role of the Lady's pet.
The fact that I'm a pet...
Was it normal for pets to react so often to the words people said like they understood them? I wasn't sure since I hadn't met another Magical Beast before, but the people of this estate didn't seem to notice so maybe I was just paranoid.
I quickly ignored her and stood on my four legs thinking about everything I needed to do. I thought back to how it felt to see the mana gather around Madam Serene and tried to copy that. I had never thought to swirl my mana at all, but then again, I didn't know I had mana in the first place.
I had no idea what it was supposed to 'feel' like so I just thought back to everything I knew on video games and entertainment things and how they demonstrated mana should feel like.
'Most that I can remember always said it was like feeling the blood flow through you... How do you do that though? I'm not that sensitive to my blood. How am I supposed to feel something so small inside me?'
I had no basis to go off of so I just went off what I felt when these two ladies performed magic, trying to swirl the blood inside my body. I closed my eyes and took many deep breaths. I wasn't sure how much time passed, but eventually, it felt like I could feel something flowing through me.
Perhaps I was just hallucinating but I grasped onto that feeling and helped it grow, continuing to try and rotate that feeling. It continued to grow stronger with time to the point that I felt it reflected the same kind of swirling that Madam Serene had.
Now that I knew this was mana inside my body, I began to gather it outside my body. I tried pushing it out of my front paws but the mana seemed blocked. I wasn't sure where else to release my mana so I just began to push it against the rest of the front of my body until I found an exit.
I was just winging this whole thing, but eventually found the exit, my snout. Why it was there, I didn't know but I was able to gather the mana in front of me as I began to think of a proper image.
'Should I just do what Madam Serene did?' That seemed simple enough but I wasn't sure if that would be enough to get me to form a proper image. I thought back to the games I played and the different kinds of shields that were in it.
A lot of them had really fancy designs from my memories, making them less practical since it would require more concentration. I continued to search my mind for a proper image when I had a eureka moment.
'She didn't say it had to specifically be a shield did she? She just said to think of "something you think you would be protected with," so that meant it could be anything technically, right?'
I was still new to all this but I went for it anyways. The image I had was that of a kind of magic I remembered from those games called 'barrier,' or something similar to that. It was essentially the same spell as 'Protect' but it took the form of a more futuristic look in the shape of hexagons connected together.
I hoped that this would be a good enough image for the spell, so I began to try and fill said image with my still swirling mana. As I did so however, I suddenly felt my mana grow violent and the next thing I knew, I was flung backwards and my instincts kicked in as I curled into a ball and rolled away.
'Well, I guess it won't be that easy to do.'