Routine Machine (02)

"Ugh, my head hurts. Let's move on to the more practical part. Can you show me the current elements you can use?" Chiyo scooted a bit away from Alban, not wanting to get caught up in anything too...unfortunate. She found it highly unlikely that he could instantly cook her and make a Chiyo barbeque, but it never hurt to be safe. Getting hit hurts, after all.

A subtle heat radiated from Alban's right hand, the area immediately around it flickering in shades of orange and red. A small flame danced along his palm, the flame shaping itself into a fireball and patiently waiting. Alban didn't prompt it to do anything at all, but felt as if he could command the fire to take a different shape. The flame felt...enthusiastic? His face revealed a slightly puzzled expression, wondering if the mana actually had any thought or relied on instinct.

"Woah, you seem like you've got a pretty good relationship with little red over there. You must use fire quite frequently, huh?" Chiyo's fingers reached towards the flame, her hand covered in mana just in case the little fireball decided it didn't like that. The flame flared up almost immediately, before dying down and flattening against the surface of Alban's palm. Alban willed it to calm down, not wanting to anger someone who was being considerate enough to teach him what he was lacking in a method that wasn't beating his face in. Not that he wouldn't have minded fighting her, it was just that there was currently no reason to.

Chiyo watched all of this before biting her lips, keenly interested in how Alban could tame such an unruly element so quickly. An itching feeling nipped at her nerves, the curiosity on the forefront of her mind becoming a bit more pronounced. "This isn't all, right? I saw the earth platforms that extended from your feet. Show me that one next." She cooed, her voice beckoning Alban to try his best.

The flame seeped back into Alban's body before being replaced by a single spike of rock. It almost looked as if the hand was impaled, the earthly protrusion sticking close to Alban's palm. His heart started beating again, his mind starting to feel slightly uncomfortable. He felt like he didn't have anything near the rapport as he did with fire, although the earthen chunk was not rejecting him. He could only slightly shape it, the earth not seeming to want to take the simple design that Alban had in mind. The only thing it could do quickly was flatten into a thin, upraised piece of land in the shape of a knocked down wall.

"Oh, that's more normal. It's a bit higher than I was expecting, so I can assume you have an affinity with it. Anything else?" Alban scratched the back of his head in reply. The water droplet in the black space that dwelled in the center of his soul came to mind, but he doubted it would even listen to him. And if it did, what would it even do? Fool someone into thinking it was going to rain for like. one second?

Looking at the expression of what he thought was expectation on Chiyo's countenance, he pushed his worries aside and beckoned out to the miniature water bead. He briefly considered if what he saw was anticipation indeed, it was a bit hard to tell with her really. The movements of the face that his piercing eyes caught were unlike any other he had seen before, the efficacy of his predictions being reduced to one half. The biting lips, the approaching face, and the twitching nose could be anything from agitation to impatience.

The water fell to the ground almost silently. Chiyo's face pointed own at the now slightly wet stone that lay directly under her student's palm. The display Alban showed this time was not very impressive at all, finally resembling a beginner.

At that point she giggled a bit, before slapping Alban on the back in an attempt to mollify him a bit. He looked a bit embarrassed, and she couldn't really blame him. She knew the feeling well when she started playing around with magic, the disappointment she felt when she wasn't a genius in every single element she tried. "Hey...it's okay. How long have you been at using water?"

"I haven't at all. I don't even feel a connection to it, do you think it's made at me?" Chiyo's giggling quickly stopped as her lips were suddenly pursed together rather tight. The pats on the back stopped too. She took everything back about the boy not being a genius, she now desperately wished he was! How cool what it be to have a student that beat down on others so bad that people would ask him who taught him? Her buxom and fit figure shivered in excitement.

Alban was a bit uncomfortable at this, thinking that he had screwed up by not outright denying the existence of the water droplet in the first place. He couldn't even feel the water at all, it was much too different from the earth chunk or the fire. Alban didn't even really understand the principle behind the water's existence in the first place. He reluctantly looked back at his teacher, only to be met with a tight lipped Chiyo trembling in what he assumed to be rage from wasting her time. He really felt sorry for messing with the nice woman.

"Hey. Do you know a place where we could maybe...take this practice up a notch? I don't want to ruin where I sleep, so..." Alban felt grateful that Chiyo had so quickly forgiven him. Or at least she had decided to put up with him for now. Not really sure which one the woman teaching him was feeling, he simply replied to her question.

"Yes, we can go there right now if you'd like?"

---

A nod of affirmation prompted Alban to bring Chiyo to the most peaceful place he knew. The forest loomed before his eyes, quieting down at his approach. He stopped right before the grove that marked the entrance of the wooden expanse, the woods behind him not completely stilled. The monsters that were closest to Alban did, however.

"Seems okay enough, just stay a bit further away from the trees and try not to cause a forest fire. I wouldn't want my new village to be screwed because a rowdy teen got carried away." Chiyo gave voice to her misgivings a bit too fervently, almost as if she had experienced the exact same thing before.

"Before we start, let me tell you what I know and can personally teach you. I'm a Transmitter, and I'm pretty sure you are as well. Just in case you aren't take deep breaths and rouse the mana in your body. If it's condensed into a core then surprise! You're a Transmuter."

"No, I don't have anything like that. When I cast I can feel mana rushing throughout my body. Wouldn't a core deplete if you had one?"

"Mhm. Good thing you don't, too. I would have little to no ability to guide you otherwise." The master and student pair both inwardly sighed in relief.