At night…
After finishing the dinner, Elise took Winifred outside for a walk. While walking outside the house, Elise said,
"Are you feeling cold..?" Elise asked with a smile, looking at Winifred.
"No, the air is not flowing that fast like before," Winifred replied with a calm face and a smile, looking at Elise.
"Okay then…! Tomorrow is going to be an important day. I'm going to unlock your mana circuit tomorrow," Elise said with calmness.
"Mana circuit??" Winifred replied with confusion on her face.
"Now understand this carefully. Think of this as a lecture. What I'm going to say is okay!" Elise said, telling Winifred to listen carefully. Hearing Elise, Winifred understood that Elise was telling her something important.
"Okay…!" Winifred replied, understanding that Elise was telling her something important.
"Let's sit there," Elise said while walking with Winifred, pointing toward the slope. Elise and Winifred sat on top of the slope in the open grassy ground near a tree in front of the house. It was nighttime, and everywhere was dark, but it was bright enough to see because of the sky filled with beautiful stars.
After Elise and Winifred both sat, Elise started talking.
"You never used magic in your world. To start using magic, you need mana. Everyone has mana; it starts developing from the moment they are born. After that, knowing there is magic, they start using that mana. Because of that, their mana circuit starts developing. But people like you, who never used mana in their life, their mana circuit was always closed because they never tried to use mana or learn magic," Elise said while sitting on the ground, looking at Winifred and explaining what a mana circuit is.
"So, do you understand what the mana circuit is?" Elise asked, looking at Winifred with a smile.
"Yes…! It's something in my body. Since I never used my mana or magic, my mana circuit is not open yet, right?" Winifred replied, understanding what Elise said.
"Yes…! Correct. Now, this is very important. Don't be scared, okay? Listen carefully. Since your mana circuit is not open, we need to open your mana circuit first so you can use magic. To open your mana circuit, there are two ways: one opens slowly and safely, and the second opens quickly. We are not going to open it slowly because it takes at least four to five years to open, and we don't have that much time. We are going to use the second method: we are going to force your mana circuit to open. It will open quickly when I perform a spell. The bad thing is, it's going to hurt so much. So, are you ready to feel some pain?" Elise said with a calm expression on her face, telling Winifred she has to feel pain to unlock her mana circuit.
Without wasting time, "I'm ready," Winifred replied quickly with seriousness in her eyes. Looking at Winifred, "Deep breath," Elise felt relaxed. I never expected this kind of reply from her, Elise thought, seeing Winifred's reaction.
"Is it really going to hurt that much?" Winifred replied, slightly lowering her head and looking toward Elise, asking her nervously.
"Yes, it is..! But don't worry, you will feel pain for only half a minute. After that, you won't feel pain. But for that half a minute, you have to resist the pain and make yourself ready to feel that pain because it's going to be a really painful process," Elise said, telling Winifred that she has to resist for half a minute for the big pain.
Hearing Elise, Winifred was shocked, but she was also ready. She knew she had to do this. This was the only way.
"One more important thing, actually more important than this, actually," Elise said with a bit of a smile and a worried face.
Hearing that there was something more important than tomorrow's mana unlocking, where she would face so much pain, Winifred was shocked. Her fear started growing, and her heart started beating faster.
"What is that thing??" Winifred asked while shocked and hiding her fear.
Elise saw Winifred's fear; she knew Winifred was scared.
"I'll tell you, remember, don't worry," Elise said, placing one hand on Winifred's shoulder and calming her with a small smile on her face.
Looking at Elise, Winifred's fear suddenly disappeared. She knew if Elise said something like "don't worry," then she didn't need to worry. While remembering that, Winifred's fear was gone.
"So, what is that more important thing that you are going to tell me?" Winifred asked, looking at Elise with a bit of worry.
"You only have four years. After four years, you have to live by yourself. In these four years, you have to become a witch first, then clear the magic school entrance test so you can take admission to the magic school. To do all this, you only have four years. In these four years, you have to become at least a B-rank mage. Only then can you clear the school entrance test and start preparing for your dreams," Elise replied with a smile while looking at Winifred.
Hearing Elise, Winifred knew that she only had four years to learn magic and prepare herself to take the magic school entrance test. After four years, she had to live by herself. That meant she couldn't live with Elise after four years, and to become a powerful mage, she had to go to school to achieve her dreams.
"I will clear that test and become a great mage like you," Winifred replied, looking at Elise with a smile.
"Yeah, I know. But there is a problem, you know..!" Elise replied, acting like there was a problem with Winifred becoming a strong mage like her.
"What problem?" Winifred asked quickly, looking at Elise.
"You have to defeat me first. Then, only you can become a mage like me," Elise said, slightly looking at Winifred with a smile.
"Okay, then I will defeat you," Winifred replied with a smile while looking at Elise.
"Hahaha… what a joke! Defeating Elise, haha…" Hearing Winifred say she could defeat Elise, the black crow sitting on a tree branch near Winifred and Elise said.
"She really thinks she can defeat her," a mouse wearing clothes like a human, lying on the same tree as the crow, said with a serious expression.
"Yeah, what a joke, right, Prince? Thinking of defeating Elise," the black crow replied, looking at the mouse whose name was Prince.
"Hum… I don't know," Prince replied, looking at Elise and Winifred with a serious expression.