A week had passed since my conversation with Hestia, and as per her instructions, I have not spoken of it to anyone—not even my mother.
Once again, she requested that I visit her for my treatment, though now, it served more as a cover story than anything else.
Upon my arrival, a flurry of heartbeats filled my chest. The past week has been nothing but anxiety and stress. Of course, I was excited to finally use magic—after all, it was all I had wanted since the incident.
But I was also scared. Not just of being hurt again, but of everything she had told me. Paranoia gripped me, as I feared that anyone around me could betray me for using magic. I even began to question if it was worth the risk. Perhaps I should further commit myself to training with Valor. Compared to magic, mastering the spear posed no inherent risk. In fact, it was something I could be celebrated for, and I did enjoy it.
As these doubts crowded my mind, my hand hovered in mid-air, frozen before the door. Maybe abandoning magic really was the best choice…
But before I could falter any further, the door began to open, and Hestia stood on the other side to welcome me in.
"Please, please, come in dear," she said with a soft smile. It was almost eerie how she seamlessly shifted back to the gentle old woman I had always known, in contrast to the weathered veteran I had sat across from last time.
I hesitated for a moment but eventually greeted her back and made my way in. The time to turn back had passed.
"Finn is already out gathering herbs, so there is no need to concern yourself with unwanted eyes," she said as she barred the door behind us.
"Now, shall we get started?" she asked, gesturing toward the table.
I nodded and walked over. When I sat down, she placed a small basket in front of me before pulling out a hare.
I looked at it, confused. "What is it for?"
"Practice."
"Pra—" Before I could finish my question, she held it down and swiftly sliced across the back of its legs, severing the tendon.
The rabbit let out a piercing shriek as it desperately tried to break free from her grasp. When she finally let it go, all it could do was thrash violently on the table as blood splattered from its now useless legs.
I sat in shock as it squealed and collapsed each time it tried to stand. Eventually, it began to exhaust itself, lying in a small pool of its blood, its breaths labored and shallow. My stomach churned at its helpless suffering. I knew it was only a rabbit, something I had butchered and cooked numerous times. But even so, watching it suffer so needlessly as it struggled so desperately...
"Watching the suffering of another is never easy." Hestia said in a bland, matter-of-fact tone. Once again, the woman I was used to had vanished. "But if you do not like it, then change it."
"How?" I looked up at her, feeling tears welling in my eyes.
She smirked before extending her arm and holding her hand above the legs of the now-exhausted animal. "Revivas."
As she spoke the command, the bleeding immediately stopped. The gashes she had made slowly began to close until the skin was once again connected, leaving nothing more than a small bald scar where the wound had been.
I stared, captivated, as the once-crippled hare began to stumble and pick itself up.
"Revivas is a simple command spell that uses the caster's mana to repair small areas of damaged tissue. Because of its simplicity, it's mostly used to stop bleeding or close small cuts."
I recognized what she was talking about from the section on spell structure in my book. Though it didn't provide specific examples, it did explain the difference between a command spell, a hybrid spell, and an incantation-level spell. A command spell is a one- or two-word spell derived from a much longer incantation spell. It creates the same effect as the incantation spell but on a much smaller scale, which means...
"What is the incantation spell?" I asked eagerly.
"So you know spell structure, then," she replied, surprised. "It's called Mother's Mending, but due to the nature of the spell and its inherent risk to the caster, few can use it. For now, you need not concern yourself with such things. Focus on the task in front of you."
"The task in front of me?"
Once again, she swiftly slashed the back of the hare's lower legs, causing it to collapse and create a small splatter of blood as it hit the table. This time, it didn't shriek as before. It simply collapsed, squeaking as its useless legs twitched.
Frozen in my seat, I looked into its eyes, which seemed to stare hopelessly at the window—at freedom. Cold tears rolled down my cheek. I couldn't quite describe it, but it felt as though something inside me had died. The passion and excitement I once held had turned to dread and emptiness.
"There is no return child." Hestia declared as she looked across at me. "So you must now decide: will you allow this creature's suffering to continue, or will you be the one to end it?"
Hesitantly, I raised my hand and held it above the hare. "Revivas..."