"S-sir Regal? Why are we going by carriage?", Anne was currently travelling to the Riverwood estate from the royal castle with Regal, but was curious why they would use a carriage now.
"Look just call me Reg-", he stopped his sentence before smiling, "No, call me Master from now on, you got that?".
Anne nodded.
"We are going by carriage because I need to maintain my image as a noble, even though I don't care much for respect, it can be important and useful in certain cases. So I can't simply walk through the streets unless I'm on business", Regal explained.
"N-no that's not what I meant...", Anne spoke quietly.
"What?", Regal ended up being unable to hear her.
"Ah! I u-uh, I mean why haven't we... you know... teleported?"
"Ah yes yes... why haven't we teleported? It's because of THAT DAMNED PAMEL!", his words suddenly grew into a shout which startled Anne.
However she didn't lose track of the conversation, "Can you not use the same spell m-master?".
'She called me master... huhu... I'm already winning, Kendrick.', Regal thought with a rather strange look on his face.
"Master?"
"Huh? Oh right the spell... no, I cannot", he shook his head along with his words.
"Oh… I see", Anne didn't really understand much about magic, but perhaps not everyone can use the same spells.
She knew she would receive knowledge of this later so instead turned to a different topic, "That man from earlier… why did you fight him?".
"…you are plenty talkative now for some reason", Regal narrowed his eyes.
"Ahaha… I'm not very good at talking with groups of people… but I'm usually okay with just one person", Anne answered.
'What? Doesn't she annoy herself with a tendency like that?', Regal didn't seem to comprehend a person's social ineptitude.
"Well, whatever", Regal began to feel like a conversation wouldn't be too bad to pass the time. "That man's name is Kendrick, I think he is the head of some noble house with a lineage of excellent swordsman? We don't talk about our families much.
We just happened to meet 15 years ago while both of us were travelling, he was on a journey to be stronger, similar to me. And since we were opposites in combat classes, we would compete a lot while we were together.
That fight from earlier is like a little ritual we do to make sure our skills aren't rusty. I need to dodge 5 physical attacks with limited magic and in close range, and he must dodge 5 spells with limited time and increased distance, we alternate this each time we meet. We purposely put ourselves at a disadvantage for training."
"Wow… you two must be good friends then", Anne stated.
Regal smirked, "We've been through some tough times together, I can't say there's many who I've had as much fun with as that man".
Suddenly a slider at the front of the carriage was pulled open to show the face of the coachman, "We will be arriving at your estate soon, Lord Riverwood".
Regal nodded at the coachman, in return the man closed the slider and continued.
"We've already almost arrived?", Anne asked with surprise on her face. The journey wasn't particularly long, maybe 5 minutes passed before Anne tried starting a conversation.
"Well, my residence happens to be rather close to the royal palace, and considering my rank, I pretty much get priority over most others on the street so it's a fast journey", Regal straightened himself to prepare to leave the carriage.
Anne's impression of these words was that the capital was in fact rather small, it was only a few minutes to reach a noble residence from the palace. Of course, this was entirely wrong, Regal just happened to be in such a high rank that he was granted an estate close to the palace. The nobles in the palace also liked the security of having the Archmage nearby.
A moment later the carriage stopped, the door was then opened by the coachman, allowing way for Regal and Anne.
He walked out and assisted Anne down onto her feet, "T-thank you". She thanked him, but unfortunately, he was wearing a rather annoyed face.
'When I find that bastard…', Regal was imagining that Pamel was probably waiting for him without a care in the world within his residence.
They walked through the gates with Anne nervously tagging along, the guards and coachman bowed as he walked away.
'Whoa! So this is where master lives?', Anne was amazed by the size of the estate, it looked just as extravagant as one would expect of a noble home. The courtyard in front of the estate was particularly large and colourful, it was also well-maintained with all of its flowers and vegetation.
"The training area is on the other side of my estate, we shall go straight there", Regal said as he set 'finding Pamel' as his second priority.
Anne nodded, continuing to follow Regal's path.
After a brief tour of the rooms on the way through the estate, they eventually arrived at the training grounds.
It was empty, it was more or less a large area of dirt. But Anne didn't know any better and just accepted it as it was.
"…hmm, Perhaps I'll need to do more shopping than I thought", Regal said aloud.
'I have resources in storage that can be used… but did I seriously have nothing here at all? Though I suppose I never needed it…'
Anne waited for Regal, she was shaking slightly in excitement, excitement that she was going to be taught to use magic. Regal noticed this and cleared his throat.
"Ahem, today I'll be performing one of the most basic rituals for a mage. We shall circulate your mana", Regal explained.
Anne wasn't sure what it meant, but she had determined eyes that suggested that she was no doubt prepared, "Yes Master!".
'I guess she really can speak normally when it's just the two of us', Regal noticed the difference between her usual self and now.
"For now, sit down somewhere", Regal ordered as he waved his hand toward the floor, to which Anne abided.
Regal then walked around Anne and sat behind her, it startled her but she regained her composure under the idea that it was necessary.
"No one in your world could use magic, right?", Regal suddenly asked.
"H-huh? Um… there were people who claimed to have powers… sometimes.
But no one really believed them and it was never proven or anything… but it wasn't like anything magic that I've seen here", Anne responded while holding a 'thinking' face with her eyes closed.
'…cute', Regal thought before shaking his head, 'Of course, it's only natural I have the cutest disciple, no one stands a chance against anyone under Regal Riverwood!', Regal began to randomly puff out his chest, but since he was behind Anne, she didn't notice.
He decided to get back on topic, "It's very possible that no one in your world could use spells, but they may have used magic somehow.
In this world, a magic user must help a new mage to circulate their mana before they're able to use magic. A human isn't able to naturally perceive mana in their body, they must have a teacher to ingrain that new feeling in their mind.
Even now, I'm sure you don't feel anything special in your body, you probably aren't even sure what mana is at all.", Regal waved his hand around while speaking.
"Yes… If I really had a special power, I'm sure I would notice… or at least I thought that.
But… what do you mean that people in my world may have used magic somehow?", Anne turned around slightly while asking the question.
"Hmm… there are certain unique cases for users of magic, even in this world.
Let's take you for instance", Regal made eye contact with Anne who had slightly turned around, she was curious.
"You are loved by mana, which means you are protected by the world in a sense", Regal said.
"Protected by the world…?", Anne wanted more information, but she also felt like she knew what Regal was talking about.
"Correct, you could say that 'luck' is your power, sometimes the most random things somehow work out in your favour.
This is all because 'mana' the lifeblood of the planet, moves by your request."
'…', Anne began to realise how legitimate Regal's words were, she indeed had many 'convenient' events occur in her past. Some of them… played a part in making her who she is now.
"So that's how it is…", Anne looked slightly down, what she learned made her remember what happened in her past. But it also made her happy, she realised that it wasn't completely her fault and that it might even seem subpar in this new world.
This was truly the chance for a new Anne to emerge.
"Though, back to the main point. I'm going to help you circulate your mana… I usually don't care about this part, but I'll warn you of something.
The sudden feeling of mana coursing through you… might feel a little strange.", Regal continued.
"Strange…?", Anne looked up at Regal again with a tilted head.
"Some people have different interpretations of how it feels, but it typically feels tingly or pleasurable. But the body gets used to it quite quickly.", Regal looked away slightly.
Anne didn't really understand, 'Pleasurable? Like a massage?'.
Regal also thought back to when his own mana was awakened. He had quite a strong awakening… once it was done he couldn't move a step away from his position, his body became hypersensitive temporarily, causing every movement to feel like an intense 'tickle'.
His body noticed every twitch of his muscles, he could clearly feel all of his clothes touching him, as if it were incredibly unnatural.
Then the worst part of all… when the one who awakened his mana tapped his shoulder, his whole arm went numb. And he couldn't even stop from being tapped in other places as his teacher attempted to gain his attention. He ended up lying on the floor with the face of a constipated person, attempting to hold in the screaming and laughter.
Regal shook his head, dismissing the memory.
"Well, here I go", Regal said before placing his hands on her back.
Anne then froze, for some reason she believed she would need to be absolutely still.
Regal began pouring mana into her body, slowly circulating it to simulate the path for her mana.
This process was rather simple, the pathway for mana starts at the heart and travels in a direct path through her arms to her hands, and her legs to her feet.
Mana is stored all around the body, but when it is being used it's gathered around the heart and concentrated in the direction it will be used. For instance, if a spell was used at the hand, mana would be concentrated to the arm pathway.
The process of Regal circulating mana went on for about an hour. Anne was silently and patiently waiting for it to finish.
She herself was amazed by the feeling of mana in her body, but it also felt like something was being moved that was actually always there. But she hadn't yet noticed the feeling that Regal had mentioned.
Eventually, Regal stopped. "That's all, your body and mind should have adapted to the feeling of mana and its pathways."
However, Regal's announcement had no response.
'Could it be…?', Regal walked to the front of Anne, and just like he thought, she was in the exact same situation he was in when he first awakened mana.
Anne was currently making a blank face as if she was in a daze. But Regal knew that she was in fact attempting to keep every muscle in her body stationary.
"Just stay like this for a while, the feeling should go away after 30 minutes", Regal started to walk away to the seats on the perimeter of the training grounds.
"Ah! There he is!", a voice could be heard by the entrance to the estate, Regal looked over to see that it was William.
'I guess they're done choosing teachers', Regal figured.
He ran over to Regal and stopped in front of him with a smile.
"The hell are you smiling about?", Regal inquired.
William then quickly wiped the smile off his face, "U-uh! Ahem, the other teachers are inside right now, I was told to go find you"
"They can wait, my disciple is currently… meditating", Regal said as he pointed at Anne.
"Oh! It's Anne!", William then ran over to her.
'Does this idiot shout to someone when he finds out they're meditating?', Regal said as he watched him run over.
"Don't disturb her!", Regal shouted as William reached Anne.
William nodded at Regal with exaggeration, trying to be quiet.
'What is he so damn excited about?', Regal pondered as he watched the hero who clearly had too much energy.
He then saw William go to tap on Anne's shoulder, "STOP YOU IDIOT!", Regal immediately shouted.
But it was too late, he had already done it, "Huh?"
"KYAAAAAAAAA!!", suddenly Anne's scream echoed throughout the Riverwood estate.