Previously in NWC-
The party reunites, after the confusion of the battle. Medusa helps numb Reno's arm by spitting her mystery medicine on it. After they get over their heartwarming reunion, they search for Luna's power. Using Medusa's curiosity, CeCe locates a switch under a rock in the floor that activates a hidden door. The door opens to reveal a chest that houses Luna's power shard as well as many valuable treasures. After the excitement dies down, they slowly begin making their back to the surface...
Finally, after the exhausting trip up the stairs, they enter nature, inhaling the fresh oxygen. They all exhale in unison, relieved that their journey is finally over. CeCe takes an energetic step forward, almost skipping. "All we have to do is make it home and then we're done!"
Reno follows behind, enjoying the sunset as they quickly drop their gear where they camped the previous night. "Maybe for the three of us. Don't you have a two-week trip back to the capital?"
CeCe stops and thinks for a moment. She falls to her knees, sobbing into her hands. "Don't remind me! I just want to sleep in a nice clean bed after all of this!"
"Hopefully you have a place to stay because the best we have is a pile of hay and some blankets that haven't been washed for weeks." Reno sits down, leaning against his backpack.
CeCe groans in distress. "You seriously need to get a house. Truth be told, I was hoping to hang out with you guys in a more comforting atmosphere, but I guess I can stay with Lyn for a night or two." CeCe sluggishly begins unpacking her tent. Reno sighs, following her example and getting ready to camp for the night. They pass the time to set up camp by making idle conversation. "So, what are you guys gonna do when you get back? You don't strike me as the type who's gone very far from Bambadale."
"I haven't, it's pretty much all I know. Truth be told, I don't really know what we'll do. We need to find more of those shards that Luna took, but we don't have any leads."
CeCe nods her head, an eyebrow raising as she turns her attention to Reno. "What even is that thing? You guys seem suspiciously fixated on them. Loon said something about them being her power?"
Reno stutters, trying to find a lie to tell her that would be even semi believable. Finally, Luna decides to jump in. "They're stones of my power." Reno looks over at Luna, about to speak up. "It's fine, Reno. We're friends now, so it's okay for her to know."
CeCe taps her chin, thinking. "Hmm… why is your power being stored in those things? Who even took them from you in the first place? If it's your power then why can't you just know where they're at?" CeCe proceeds to barrage Luna with questions.
Reno turns his head at her last question, facing Luna. "That's a great question. Why CAN'T you just know where they're at?"
Luna sighs, slightly regretting her choices. "That's because the magic used to store those powers isn't my own. I can sense when we're close, but it's mostly hidden by the magic that's used to restrain them to the shards."
Reno nods his head. "Makes sense." He has absolutely no clue what she means but he does his best to fake it until he makes it.
"Uh-huh. Explain it to me then, Reno." Luna senses his confusion and calls him out on his lie.
"Easy! The magic is, Y'know, and the shards are totally, like, yeah." He looks at Luna, hoping she'll just ignore it.
Luna sighs, slightly chuckling. "If you don't know how it works then you can just say so. I don't expect you to know when you haven't been properly educated on the matter."
CeCe's ears perk up as she looks to Reno. "You haven't been taught about how magic works?!" She's visibly excited, her body shaking as her eyes light up.
Reno flinches slightly, not expecting a sudden outburst. 'Huh?! I mean- no, not really. I just know how to Aqueous, that's it."
CeCe's eyes widen and her jaw drops in utter shock. "How do you know how to cast magic but don't even know the fundamentals of magic and mana?!" She speaks in a state of complete shock, completely bewildered that there is someone who doesn't know the bare basics to magic. "I've met a lot of people in my short life, but never have I ever met someone who doesn't at least know the basics!" She becomes giddy, her excitement boiling over. "You really are strange! This party is so exciting! Every time I learn something new I'm just left with so many more questions! Were you born in Bambadale? How'd you learn to cast magic? Can I teach you about magic?!" CeCe's barrage of questions quickly turns to Reno.
Reno shakes his head. "How can you seriously have all this energy after all we did today? And to answer your questions; classified, classified, and sure!"
CeCe pouts in response to his first two answers but quickly becomes excited again after being given permission to teach him. "Lame! But, I suppose I'll settle with you letting me rant! It might not seem like it, but I'm well educated, and I happen to have a little bit of an obsession with the science behind how our world interacts with mana! Let's get camp set up and we can discuss it over dinner!" The party quickly finishes setting up the camp, putting a fireplace together to cook their dinner. CeCe explains how mana and magic work to Reno as they eat, her eyes shining with excitement. "Okay! I'm about to throw a lot of information at you, so ask questions if you don't understand something! I've spent thousands of hours on this subject, so I might accidentally dip into more advanced territories!"
Renos' eyes widened with shock. "THOUSANDS?! Did you study for days straight without taking breaks or something?!"
CeCe giggles, happy at his reaction. "Of course not! There are days that I'll spend 10 hours a day just getting lost in the theory of mana and magic! It's really interesting when you start digging deeper and deeper and really start getting into concepts and theories!"
"Concepts and theories? What do you mean by that?"
CeCe's eyes become literal stars as she gets in Reno's face with excitement. "You wanna know about theoretical theories! We have to get you caught up on the basics so I can tell you all about my favorite theory! The theory is based on Newton's third law of motion in which he states for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction! The theory is called the anti-mana theory and it was first pitched over 400 years ago by an unnamed sage who believed the soul wasn't just a catalyst for mana to come in but-" CeCe sees the total confusion on Reno's face and she quickly calms herself down, fake coughing into her fist. "Sorry, I got a bit excited! Let's start from the beginning! Let's start out by seeing what you know. What is magic?"
Reno thinks long and hard, placing a finger to his chin and closing his eyes as he gets lost in thought. "It's spells that people cast and it's so cool."
CeCe looks at Reno, waiting for the punchline. It takes a couple of seconds for her to realize he wasn't joking. "Oh… we really have to start from the VERY beginning, don't we?"
Reno quickly waves his hands in front of him. "No, wait! Luna was telling me something about the soul and mana. Does that mean anything to you?"
CeCe nods her head, seemingly relieved that he had at least begun trying to understand the topic before now. "That's a bit later on. First, you need to learn the basics! I hope you're ready for a long night because we aren't stopping until you're an expert!"
Reno sluggishly raises his wobbly arm. "Yay…"
The party decides to take a break before Reno's lesson. Medusa applies more of her spit to Reno's arm which seemingly helps his body close up wounds at much faster rates. "I can almost SEE the cut closing! You're amazing as always!" They end up wrapping Reno's wound before returning to the topic. They attempt to wrap Medusa's, but she adamantly refuses. Finally, they're ready to return to their conversation. "I can't guarantee that I'll retain a lot, but I'll do my best."
CeCe chuckles and puffs her chest out with pride. "Lucky for you, you have the best teacher ever! I'm more than an expert on this subject, AND I happen to love teaching others! We won't touch the more advanced theories until you've gained a firm understanding of how you receive and process mana into magic! Oh, and there will be a quiz at the end, so you'd better pay attention! If you can't answer all the questions correctly then I'll make you sit through the lesson from start to finish all over again!"
Reno's face drops with shock at her declaration. "What?! You're gonna make me take the whole lesson over again if I don't get 100 percent?! Why not just review the questions I get wrong and let me take the quiz again?!"
CeCe playfully sticks her tongue out, waving her index finger. "Because that'd be too easy! How about this? I'll give you two options. The first choice is to listen to the lesson and take the quiz and agree to the other rules involved. The second is simple; just don't take the lesson!"
"I… I can just not talk about it? Really, this isn't a trap?" Reno's voice is stained with a sense of suspicion.
CeCe shakes her head, smiling innocently. "Nope! I WILL be disappointed, however! You can't just mention something a girl is crazy for and not let her go off! That's an easy way for a girl to lose interest, Y'know?"
Reno groans slightly, hanging his head. "I'll take the lesson."
CeCe claps her hands together, her smile brightening. "Great! Take notes if you need!" With that, Reno begins his mentally exhausting lesson.
TO BE CONTINUED...