{Melisa}
Melisa sat in the living room, her mind still reeling from the events of the day.
The fight with the Shadow Mages, the revelation that people like that existed out there, the way Javir had dispatched them with such skill and ferocity...
It was a lot for Melisa to process.
But as the minutes ticked by, Melisa found her thoughts drifting to a different matter entirely.
[What's taking them so long?] she wondered, glancing at the closed door of the bedroom where Javir and her mother had disappeared. [How long does it take to clean a little cut?]
Just then, as if summoned by her thoughts, the door opened and Javir and Margaret stepped out.
Melisa's eyebrows shot up.
Their faces were flushed and their clothes were disheveled.
[Oh. OH.]
Melisa, or Alice, had died a 28-year-old virgin. But, she wasn't that clueless. She knew exactly what had happened.
But honestly, Melisa couldn't bring herself to care. She had more important things on her mind.
"Javir!" she exclaimed, bounding over to the older woman. "Can you show me how to do some of those amazing spells you used in the fight? Please? Pretty please?"
Javir blinked, taken aback by the sudden request. But then she grinned, ruffling Melisa's hair affectionately.
"Of course, kid. I'd be happy to teach you a thing or two. But let's take it slow, okay? Some of those spells are pretty advanced. I don't want you misfiring yourself into an early grave, okay?"
Melisa nodded.
Just then, the front door opened and Melistair walked in, his face lined with concern.
"I heard there was some kind of commotion in the forest. Is everyone alright?"
His eyes widened as he took in Javir, standing there with his wife and daughter.
Melisa had to stifle a giggle at the expression on Javir's face. She looked so panicked.
But Margaret just smiled, walking over to her husband and placing a soft kiss on his cheek.
"Everything's fine, dear. Just a little trouble with some unsavory types. But Javir here took care of it."
She gestured to Javir, who looked like she wanted to sink into the floor.
"Oh, oh, thank the gods. Thank you, Javir, for keeping my family safe."
He held out his hand, and Javir took it, looking slightly relieved.
"It was my honor, sir. Your daughter is a remarkable young woman, and your wife is... well, she's something special too."
Margaret blushed, ducking her head to hide her smile. Melisa just rolled her eyes, impatient to get back to the matter at hand.
After that, Melistair and Margaret made their way back inside.
Melisa seized her chance.
"Hey, Javir? Can I ask you something?"
Javir glanced down at her, curiosity in her eyes.
"Of course, kid. What's on your mind?"
Melisa hesitated for a moment, suddenly feeling a little shy.
"Well, it's just... you mentioned that you were from Syux, right? What did you do there, before you came here?"
Javir smiled, a faraway look in her eyes.
"Aside from being a teacher? Not much."
Melisa nodded, her interest piqued.
"But, what was that like? What did you teach?"
Javir chuckled, settling down on a nearby bench and patting the space beside her.
"Oh, all sorts of things. Magic, mostly, but also a bit of swordsmanship here and there, though it's far from being my specialty."
"Oh!"
Javir sighed.
"It was a good life. Challenging, but rewarding. I loved my students, loved watching them grow and learn and become the best versions of themselves."
Melisa sat down beside her, hanging on her every word.
"So why did you leave?" she asked, her brow furrowed in confusion. "If you loved it so much, why come here?"
Javir was silent for a moment, her gaze distant.
Javir took a deep breath, her eyes growing distant as she delved into the memories.
"It's... complicated, kid. But I suppose you deserve to know the truth."
She leaned back.
"There was this nim girl, you see. She had married a human and bought her freedom, and she enrolled at Syux Academy as a scholar."
Melisa's eyes widened, her interest piqued.
"A nim? At a human school? That must have been rare."
Javir chuckled, a wry smile on her face.
"Rare? Try unheard of. But this girl, she was special. Smart as a whip and twice as determined. She deserved to be there, just as much as anyone else."
Her expression sobered.
"But... not everyone saw it that way. I taught one of her History classes, and some people thought I was giving her preferential treatment. Favoring her over the other student, literally for no other reason than because I would compliment her when she answered questions right, got good grades on a test, that sort of thing."
Melisa frowned.
"But, if she was doing well, she should have been recognized for it."
Javir sighed, running a hand through her hair.
"You're right, kid. It was, quite frankly, really stupid. Anyway, things came to a head. There was a big argument with some important people, and some accusations thrown around. Apparently..." She looked down at Melisa and Melisa could tell Javir was adjusting her words in real time. "She was, allegedly, caught trying to get someone to do something bad. I didn't believe she was the type to do that, though, so I stood up for her. People didn't like that."
Melisa leaned forward, her heart aching for the injustice of it all.
"What happened? Did they make you leave?"
Javir snorted.
"No, I left on my own. Figured it wasn't worth the trouble, dealing with so many people like that. I figured, maybe that wasn't the right place for me after all."
She looked down at Melisa, a softness in her eyes.
"And, coincidentally, as soon as I leave, I meet a young nim girl named Melisa that's impressed me more than any of those students ever did. Crazy, right?"
Melisa felt a warmth blooming in her chest, a sense of pride and gratitude.
"I'm sorry to hear things didn't go well back home, but... I'm glad you're here, Javir. I'm glad you're my teacher."
"Aw," Javir smiled, ruffling Melisa's hair affectionately. "Me too, kid. Me too."
She stood up, stretching her arms above her head.
"Now, enough about my boring old past. Let's get back to the exciting stuff. Magic!"
Melisa grinned.
"Yes! I want to learn that vine spell, the one you used on the kitsune. It was so cool!"
Javir laughed, shaking her head in amusement.
"Alright, alright. The vine spell it is. But, don't get too caught up in trying to master it in one hour or whatever, it's a complicated one, alright?"
Melisa just smirked, a glint of determination in her eye.
"Is that a challenge?"
Javir raised a brow.
"If you wanna waste all your Essence trying, go for it."
"You're on, teach!"
And, with that, Melisa got started.
Melisa stood in the garden, her face scrunched up in concentration as she tried to replicate the vine spell Javir had used against the kitsune.
"Radix, ligare, vinculum!" she chanted, her hands moving in what she hoped was the right pattern.
But instead of a lush, green vine bursting from the ground, all Melisa got was a fizzle of Essence and a whole lot of nothing.
[What the heck?] she thought, frowning in confusion. [I thought I had it that time!]
She tried again, putting more force behind her words and movements.
"Radix, ligare, vinculum!"
Still nothing. Not even a sprout.
Melisa huffed, her frustration mounting.
[This is way harder than Illuminate. What gives?]
She kept at it, determined to prove to Javir that she could master this spell in record time.
But as the minutes ticked by and the misfires piled up, Melisa began to feel a strange heaviness in her limbs, a fog creeping into her mind.
[Ugh, what's happening? I feel so... so...]
And then, without warning, the world tilted and went black.
And Melisa fell face-first.
---
Melisa woke to the sensation of being carried, strong arms cradling her against a warm chest.
[Huh? What...]
She blinked, her vision slowly coming into focus. Javir's face swam into view looking irritatingly amused.
"Welcome back. Have a nice nap?"
Melisa groaned, the events of the past few minutes coming back to her in a rush.
"I didn't know that misfiring could knock you out," she mumbled, her cheeks burning with embarrassment.
Javir chuckled, shifting Melisa in her arms as she walked.
"Well, now you know. Essence exhaustion is no joke, especially for a young nim like you. Once you run out of Essence, trying to use it is like trying to squeeze water from a rock. And, at a point, your body just turns off for a bit."
She carried Melisa into the house, where a worried Margaret was waiting.
"Oh, my baby! Is she alright?"
Javir nodded, carefully handing Melisa over to her mother.
"She'll be fine, Margaret. Just needs some rest and a cold glass of water to replenish her Essence."
Margaret hugged Melisa close, pressing a kiss to her forehead.
"Thank you, Javir. Goodness, I... Ugh."
Javir just smiled, giving Melisa a wink.
"Anytime, Margaret. Anytime."
And with that, the day came to a close, Melisa's dreams filled with visions of vines and ice and the feeling of grass against her cheeks.
---
{Javir}
Melisa slipped into the house for a moment as Javir was helping her train in the garden.
When she came back out, she was carrying a stack of scrolls.
[Hm?]
"What are you up to, Melisa?" Javir asked, raising an eyebrow in curiosity.
Melisa grinned, spreading the scrolls out on the grass.
"I want to see if I can use the new spells you taught me, the ice spells and the vine spell, to make a new one! Wouldn't that be awesome?"
"..."
Javir blinked.
[What in the world...?]
"Don't waste your time," Javir told her, eyes slightly narrowed and smile gone. "Spell creation is way, way out of your league right now. Just focus on the basics."
Melisa wasn't listening, though.
"I-I'm just gonna try! I mean, if I can learn these spells so quickly, who's to say I can't make my own?"
Javir shook her head.
[I guess there's no harm in letting the kid try and fail. Just means I get to cuddle with her a bit after~]
"Well, far be it from me to stifle your creativity. But don't come crying to me when you misfire all your Essence away again like yesterday."
Melisa just grinned.
"If that happens, you can just hug me a ton and it'll be fine, right? Essence transfer and all that?"
[Busted.]
Before long, Melisa was lost in her work, her hands flying over the scrolls as she sketched out spellsigns and muttered incantations under her breath.
Despite her reservations, Javir couldn't suppress her curiosity.
She stood up, moving to look over Melisa's shoulder as she worked.
And what she saw took her breath away.
Melisa was drawing spellsigns like an absolute natural, her strokes confident and precise. She seemed to instinctively understand how they worked, what each line represented, and how to combine them appropriately.
Javir watched, transfixed, as Melisa put the finishing touches on her creation.
"Done!"
The girl took a deep breath, her eyes flashing with determination.
"Glacies, radix, crescere!"
She put her hand forth and...
There, sprouting from the ground, was a small, crystalline plant, its leaves and stems made entirely of frosted glass.
"Uh..." Melisa giggled, embarrassed. "Could have sworn this was gonna be... different. Oh well."
Now, Javir was the one who wasn't listening.
She stepped forward and crouched, inspecting that creation. She didn't feel confident touching the damn thing without an alchemist nearby, Melisa herself probably didn't know the effects of the spell she just used, but she needed to confirm that this was real.
It was a plant. At least, appearance-wise, that was all it could be considered. It wasn't the most impressive spell Javir had ever seen, but that wasn't the point. The point was that Melisa had created it, right in front of her eyes, with nothing but a few scrolls and her own innate understanding of magic.
Javir looked at the little nim girl, brows furrowing tightly.
[This girl... She's not just talented. She's a straight-up genius.]
She stood back up, pacing backward.
[This changes everything,] Javir thought, her mind reeling with the implications. [Melisa isn't just a prodigy. She's a once-in-a-lifetime talent!]
She kept walking from side to side.
[A girl like that, born in a backwater village like this, is... She's that skilled? At 9-years-old!?]
In truth, Javir wasn't too sure that, if tasked with the same instruction, she could have done what Melisa just did.
At least, not this quickly.
She turned back around. She couldn't help but see Melisa in a new light.
To see this moment, this time in Javir's own life, in a new light.
A thought slipped into Javir's mind then that she would not be able to extract, no matter how hard she tried.
[... Her being here, going over her studies in secret, in isolation, like this, it's a waste. Isn't it?]